


Long Road Ahead

by NITTOM



Category: Kagerou Project, Mekakucity Actors
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Angst, Blood and Violence, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Murder, Slow Build, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-15 03:15:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 23
Words: 68,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10549142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NITTOM/pseuds/NITTOM
Summary: It had been a week since all of the members of the Mekakushi Dan had met. They continued to live their lives as normal. However, little did they expect the impending danger that they must face.





	1. Lies

Day turned to night and the heat haze turned into cool breeze. It had been a week since Hibiya received his powers and was forced to go home by his parents. The members of the Mekakushi Dan were all asleep except for one. The leader of the group was casually sitting on the couch, sipping on her tea, waiting for the troublesome one to get back. The wait turned from minutes to hours. It’s approaching two in the morning, yet still no sign of the blonde haired boy. She was starting to feel frustrated.

“What’s taking him so long?” She muttered under her breath, wishing he would show up as soon as she finished her sentence.

Kido slowly sipped down the last bit of her tea, and decided to go the kitchen to make another. Suddenly she heard the doorknob turning. Her eyes turned red, and her presence was almost completely wiped away. Kano walked in the door slowly, checking if anyone is still awake. _They’re all asleep_ , he thought to himself. He quietly closed the door behind him. He walked towards the living room table, and settled down his bag filled with spray cans and other graffiti supplies. As Kano walked into the kitchen to grab some snacks before going to bed, Kido noticed the obvious bruise around his left eye and some shoddy bandage work on his right cheek. A long, deep cut can still be seen. The cut looked like it was rather deep. _Most likely a knife,_ Kido thought to herself. Just thinking of the idea of Kano getting threatened with a knife made Kido grit her teeth. Her eyes turned from red to dark brown and appeared right in front of Kano.

“How did you get those wounds?” She asked blatantly.

Kano surprised by her sudden appearance, tumbled backwards and fell onto the floor. However, he quickly used this moment as a diversion to deceive the green haired girl. His eyes turned red and his faced looked as if nothing had happened to him.

“What do you mean Kido? Look, my face is all fine.” Kano lied.

“There’s no need to use your power in front of me,” Kido stated with a stoic voice, “Now tell me, who hurt you and why did they do it?”

Kano stood up, putting his hand on his bum to ease the pain of the fall.

“It’s nothing…” He replied, fully knowing that the leader isn’t going to take that answer.

She put her hand on his shoulder.

“Tell me.” She demanded.

Seeing the pain in her eyes made the deceiver to be filled with remorse and guilt.

He breathed a heavy sigh and gave in. “Fine.”

“I will be back by midnight, don’t you trust me, Kido?” Kano asked with a smile on his face.

“No, I don’t.” Kido replied, but sighed and agreed “But fine, just don’t be as late as last time. If you do I will make you clean the toilet for a month.”

Kano replied while exiting the front door, “Don’t worry, it will be fine.”

It was a peaceful night. The stars were shining brightly, and the cool breeze made going outside bearable. Kano walked along the empty streets with his bag of spray cans and protection mask.

He walked up to an empty wall, “This could be the canvas.”

He backed up and envisioned what he wanted to draw. Then he laid his equipment down. He opened up the purple spray can, shook it, and started spraying the wall, but not without his protection mask. As time slowly goes by, his mask and clothes got more and more colourful from the spray paint, and the end product started to appear. It was a silhouette of all of the members of the Mekakushi Dan painted in their respective colours. He closed the lid on the spray cans and pulled off his mask. He stepped back to admire the full painting.

“Oi, who do you think you are to spray paint on my wall, in my territory?” A voice came from behind him.

It was three what appeared to be twenty years old men. The man on the left was wearing a white t-shirt and a pair of sunglasses, while the man on the right wore a white tank top carrying a wooden baseball bat. The one in the middle seems to be the leader, and was the one who asked the question. He wore a black t-shirt that was clearly too big for him, and a saggy pair of trousers. He had multiple scars on his forehead, suggesting that he or someone else had cut it open before. Kano could clearly see the knife that was in the man’s trouser pocket. The blonde haired boy froze, not knowing what to reply.

“Are you deaf or something, I asked you a damn question.” The man demanded.

“I’m sorry, I will clean it up.” Kano answer in what sounded like a calm and cocky voice. In fact his whole figure looked relaxed and calm. His eyes were the only things that gave it away.

“Tch, I see you ain’t scared of us huh?” The man with the baseball bat questioned.

“No, it’s not that, I just think that this is an easy problem to solve.” Kano replied, with no sign of fear.

“Yeah, it is.” The leader of the gang stated calmly.

“I will ju-“ Kano was cut off by a punch to the gut.

He fell to the ground, clutching his stomach.

The three laughed, “You’re right, it is simple. We will just beat the shit out you and we will forget any of this had ever happened.” The man with the sunglasses smiled as he stated Kano’s punishment.

The leader signaled the man with the baseball bat. He walked towards Kano, lifted him up by his collar, and took a swing at him. Kano saw this and dodged out of the way. The man surprised by his sudden action, lowered his guard for a brief moment, but that was enough for Kano to kick him in the guts, making the man drop his weapon. Realising this might be the only window he has to escaping, Kano tried to run away, but he was stopped immediately by Sunglasses. He punched the boy square in his face. Kano flew backwards into the leader.

“Little bastard wanted to run huh? I’m gonna tell ya, you have guts, I like it.” He pulled out his pocket knife, “I’m just gonna leave a mark on you, think of it as a warning shot.”

Kano tried to get up on his feet, but it was too late. The two men have pinned him down to the ground. The leader slowly dug the knife into Kano’s cheek and sliced downwards. He screamed, as the agonizing pain course through his body. The three laughed and walked away. Kano slowly got up, putting pressure on his wound to try and stop the bleeding. He tore up an extra protection mask he had brought with him and made into a small bandage. He rummaged through his bag and found a bottle of isopropanol that he carries around him in case of small cuts. He soaked the small bandage with the alcohol and put it against the knife wound. The pain was excruciating. He can feel his rapid pulse against the wound. He then used the rubber strings from the tore up mask to secure it in place. Kano quietly sat at the wall for a moment, trying to comprehend what just happened. He wanted to cry and throw up whenever he remembers the three men. The mocking voices and the laughter echoed through his mind and it reminded him of when he’s parents were killed. The blonde haired boy tried and composed himself, he grabbed his bag of supplies and started heading home.

        Kido clutched her hands into a fist.

“So that’s what happened,” Kano commented quietly, then he saw the girl’s eyes. It was filled with anger. He had almost never seen this side of Kido before. The only other time was when Seto and him told her that they were bullied at the playground. “But, hey it’s just the past, I’ve learned my lesson, I won’t go back there again.” Kano quickly added, putting his hands on Kido’s shoulders.

The rage within her didn’t seem like it will be extinguished.

“Tell me, Kano, where exactly were you?” The leader of the Mekakushi Dan asked with anger in her tone, but also with a hint of sadness.

“Kido, no! You are not going!” Kano yelled, knowing full well that he may wake the entire Dan from their slumber.

Kido shrugged his hands off her shoulder, and grabbed him by his jacket’s collar. “Tell. Me.” She threatened.

“No.” Kano replied firmly, “I’m not going to allow them to hurt you.”

“Fine, I will just find them myse-“ Kido, desperate to find the ones had hurt her friend, was cut off by the boy.

“Tsubomi! You’re not going to find them. You’re not going to get hurt because of my stupid actions. Do you understand?”

Kido was shook by Kano’s sudden outburst of seriousness. She stared at him with sadness and curiosity. She felt her heart ache. _You’re a terrible leader, Kido! You’re worthless! God, can you do anything right? You will never live up to Ayano!_ Negative thoughts filled Kido’s mind. A single tear rolled out of her eye. She lowered her head and apologized, “I’m sorry, Kano. I’m sorry I couldn’t have protected you…”

“Kido…” The liar let out a call of concern. He walked up to his beloved friend, “it’s oka-“ He was cut off by a punch to his abdomen. He tumbled backwards as he watched Kido ran out of the house.

“Tsubomi!” He yelled before seeing the door swing shut.


	2. Pain

            Kido shut the door behind her and ran as fast as she could. She had no idea where she was going to, but she was going to find the ones responsible for hurting Kano. The blind rage kept pushing her, and maybe through sheer luck or coincidence, she found the newly painted graffiti. When she slowed down and walked up to it, she can see the dried up blood near the wall. _They can’t be far_ , she thought. She continued running down the blocks, searching for the culprits described by Kano. She searched for what felt like hours, and yet still no signs of them. Kido was about to give up. The rage inside had turned into regret. _Why did I have to try and find them, I could’ve tended to Kano’s wounds,_ she mentally hit herself on the head. The feeling of guilt drove her to go back to the Dan’s base. However, on her way back, she began to feel an overwhelming thirst. She looked around and found a vending machine in an alleyway. She walked up to it and examined the content of the machine. Suddenly a burst of drunken laughter can be heard from deeper within the alleyway. She followed the laughter and found three drunken men talking and laughing. _Is this them?_ Kido wondered. She walked closer and looked at them closely. These three men fits the description by Kano. The sensation of rage came back to her as soon as she recognized them.

“Hey, bastards!” Kido yelled out.

The three men turned around and made an unimpressed noise, “who d’you think you’re? Calling us bastards?” The leader of the bunch questioned.

Kido’s eyes turned red, making her invisible.

“What the-” The man with the baseball bat expressed, but was cut off by a kick to the side of his head.

“You little bitch. Get her!” The leader commanded.

They tried to attack Kido, but with her ability of concealment, the three men were defeated relatively easily.

She went up to the leader and picked his head up by pulling on his hair, “Don’t you hurt the blonde haired boy again, do you understand me?” Kido threatened.

“Tch, you’re gonna learn not to fuck with me” The leader replied.

The green haired girl, not pleased with the response, tried to smash his face into the pavement. However, she was stopped by the man with the sunglasses. He lifted her up by her neck and punched her in her abdomen. Kido grunted with the impact of the fist. She flew backwards into the wall with the result of the impact. She tried to get up, and become invisible, but it was too late. One of the men swung his wooden baseball bat and struck her on top of her head. Blood trickled down her face. For a moment, her vision went dark. Kido was able to regain consciousness fast enough before any more damage was done on her. She tried to muster up all her strength to stand up, but the impact of the bat had caused her to lose all strength in her body. The man with the sunglasses picked her up and locked her arms behind her head. The leader of the gang walked up to her and spat on her face.

“I’m gonna have fun gutting you like a little pig!” he stated. He grabbed the baseball bat from the man with the tank top, “but first, I’m gonna hurt you real bad.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, he took a brutal swing at Kido. It hit her on her chest, and she can feel some ribs cracking. She yelped from the pain.

“Wow, the little pig has some guts I tell you. Not even screaming for help.” He commented. “Well that’s no fun.”

He took another swing at Kido, and this time the bat was swung faster and more aggressively. Kido felt more ribs breaking, and the impact made her cough violently. Streaks of blood exited her mouth, she wanted to scream and cry out for help, but she was in too much pain. The last swing made her difficult to breathe. Kido can feel her consciousness fading away. She tried to struggle out of the hold, but after the beating, she had become too weak to escape.

The leader clearly took notice of this, “Hey, don’t die on me just yet, I’m not done playing with you.” He signaled Sunglasses, and he released his grip on Kido.

A slight hope filled her mind; she thought that they might let her go. Instead Sunglasses grabbed her left arm and bent it backwards, causing it to break from her elbow. Kido screamed in pain, but the only sound that came out of her throat was the gurgling of blood. Adrenaline filled her body, and she became more aware of her surroundings. However, it was no use, the man who broke her arm immediately lifted her back into a hold.

The leader smiled, he took out his knife from his pocket, “Well, I’ve had enough fun with you. Shame, such a youthful life wasted just because some stupid teenage love.”

He then dug the knife into Kido’s stomach. He slowly twists the handle as the blade entered her body. She tried to scream from the top of her lungs, but instead was greeted by the choking caused by the blood in her throat. She coughed up some more blood.

“Any last words before I gut you?” The leader asked cockily. Kido shot him with a glare, and proceeded to spat blood at him. Some of her blood made it onto his cheeks. He wiped it off aggressively.

“if that’s how you want to die, then go ahead.” He pushed in the blade deep into her body. “Say goodbye bitch.” The leader of the gang exclaimed.

However, before he could have dragged the blade upwards, a tall figure appeared behind the man who was holding up Kido.

“Don’t hurt my friend,” A monotone voice stated before tossing both the man with the sunglasses and the one with the white tank top to the side. He pushed the leader off of Kido, making sure the blade was still inside of her body.

The figure caught a barely conscious Kido in his arms. “Konoha?” Kido asked before falling completely unconscious.

Konoha lifted her limp body up and turned away from the gang. The leader quickly stood back up, grabbed the baseball bat that was laying next to him and charged at Konoha. However, he was greeted by a kick to the chest from the white haired character.

“Don’t hurt my friends again,” Konoha said stoically before jumping away, towards the nearest hospital.

The sounds of police siren then approached the alleyway.

“Freeze, don’t move!” The police called out.

“Shit,” the three all muttered under their breaths.

As they were escorted into the police cars, they saw Kano standing at the entrance of the alleyway. He was smiling and waving them goodbye as they were driven away. Suddenly, his deception fades, he began running towards the direction that Konoha went to. Tears stream down his face, _please be okay Tsubomi._

            Kano reached the hospital and ran towards the reception desk, “Ma’am do you know where I can find the girl that was just sent here by a tall white haired-”

His question was cut off by the nurse, “walk straight, turn to the right.”

“Thank you!” He replied and stormed off towards the directions he was given.

“Konoha!” Kano exclaimed.

The pink-eyed teenager looked towards the direction where the voice came from. “Ah, Kano, you’re here.” He said.

“How is Tsu- Kido? Any news yet?” Kano asked anxiously and out of breath.

“No, not yet.” Konoha responded. Kano took a seat right next to Konoha. As they two silently waited for just a single doctor to exit out of the emergency room, Kano suddenly had streams of tears pouring from his eyes.

Konoha, noticing this, asked, “Are you okay Kano?”

“Hm? Yeah I’m fine, why did you ask?” Kano replied, using his eyes to deceive the other boy.

However, unexpectedly, Konoha pulled Kano in for a hug. “I heard from Mary that this makes others feel better.”

Kano put on a weak smile, “Thanks.”

Tick-tock, tick-tock, the clock above the two ticked along as if nothing was wrong. It had been a long time since Kido was first sent into the emergency room. Konoha had fallen asleep by now, while Kano patiently waits for an update.

A surgeon exited the emergency room, “You guys are Tsubomi Kido’s friends right?”

“Yeah.” Kano shot up onto his feet and answered.

“Well, we have stabilized her. However, she’s still unconscious and under a lot of physical trauma and blood loss.” The surgeon reported.

“Ah.” Kano responded was sadness and worriedness in his tone.

Noticing this, the surgeon tried to comfort Kano, “Hey, but I bet your friend will make it through this. She’s brave enough to face a gang by herself, she will definitely be able to overcome this.”

Kano looked up at the surgeon and gave him a small smile, before returning to the seats.

Another hour has gone by. The blonde haired boy is slowly losing hope. _You’re such an idiot, why didn’t you see it coming… you could’ve stopped her, and now she’s going to die because of you…_ He squeezed his head with both his hands and let out a small cry. All of a sudden the emergency room door opened. He looked up and saw Kido lying on a hospital bed being dragged out. The same surgeon from earlier came out and informed Kano.

”She survived the surgeries, but still need to be monitored. We will be sending her to her designated area now.”

A sudden relief came over Kano. _Thank God she’s alive,_ he thought. He looked towards his peacefully sleeping friend, “Thank you for saving her in time,” he whispered.

Kano followed them to a small room where the leader of the Mekakushi Dan will be staying at. The room is relatively small, with an area for a bed, monitors and medical stands, a window towards the right of where the bed is , and a small bathroom with only a toilet and a sink.

One of the nurses turned around to Kano and informed him, “This room will be where you come to visit your friend until we release her from the hospital. The check in will be at the reception, and if you detect any urgent issues, ring the bell right above the bed, one of the nurse will come and check on your friend.”

“Okay, no problem.” Kano responded.

As the surgeons and nurses left the room, Kano stood right around the corner next to the bathroom. He fidgeted with his pants and was trying to build up courage to face her.

“Maybe I will go and tell Konoha first.” Kano suggested to himself.

He walked towards the door and reached for the handle. He was about to open the door, but then retracted his arm. He breathed a heavy sigh. _I have to face her,_ he thought to himself. He turned around and saw a corner of the bed. He took a deep breath and walked towards the bed. On the bed, Kido was lying still on her back. Her left arm was in a cast and was lying gently on her stomach, outside of her blanket. She has two oxygen tubes connected into her nostrils, as well as a needle in the back of her right hand, transfusing nutrients and vitamins into her blood stream. Two wires were connected inside of her hospital gown, presumably on her chest, and were monitoring her heart rate. Kano saw that there’s a chair underneath the bed. He took it out and sat next to Kido. There’s a white bandage across her forehead under her long green hair. He took her left hand and held it in his.

“Hey Kido.” He greeted. “How are you feeling?” He asked as if expecting an answer. “I’m feeling better. My eye is still throbbing, but Konoha helped me to stitch up my face when you went out.”

Then silence, the only sound that can be heard is the beeping from the heart monitor.

“Why did you have to avenge me?” Kano suddenly asked. “Why? You could’ve just left them alone.” Tears rolled down from his eyes, some droplets hit the back of Kido’s left hand. “It’s all my fault that you went through so much pain. I’m sorry… Please forgive me.”

Kano lowered his head into the bed.

“Why? Tsubomi. Why did you have to risk your life like this? Can you just think about your personal well-being for once. It doesn’t matter that your leader image will get shattered, or that your promise to Ayano will be broken. Please, just stay safe… At least for me…”

He paused and looked up at the ceiling, “You know, Mary once asked if I like you or not. It’s pretty funny thinking about that right now. It’s when moments like these you really starting to think about the small things. I’ve been lying for my entire life. Lying to strangers, lying to friends, lying to you,” He took a deep breath before continuing, “Lying to myself. Maybe it’s time that I become honest with myself. I mean you would ask me to anyways won’t you?”

Kano turned his head from the ceiling towards Kido. He held onto her hand tightly as the sun began to rise.

“Tsubomi, I think… I…”

Words were stuck in his throat. He just wanted to say the three words that he had wanted to say to her, but he can’t muster up the strength to do it. _Maybe it’s for the better. I can save it for her for when’s awake. That will probably be more appropriate._ He thought to himself. He slowly laid his head down onto the side of the bed and fell into deep slumber.

        Konoha slowly opened his eyes. He looked out of the window that was next to the seats.

“Oh, it’s the morning already.” He stood up slowly and stretched. He looked around and the liar was nowhere to be seen, the emergency room light had also been turned off as well.

Konoha walked to a nearby nurse and asked, “Do you know where Tsubomi Kido is located?”

“Oh, if she is a patient then she will most likely be at that dormitory area. Here, let me take you there.” The nurse offered.

The pink-eyed figure followed the nurse to a long corridor.

“Tsubomi Kido…” The nurse repeated the name as she tried to search for the room. “Ah, there it is. She’s in here, room 314, remember this number for next time.” The nurse opened the door and led Konoha in.

“Thank you,” He gestured.

As the door closed behind him, he walked towards the bed where Kido’s lying. When he saw the hospital bed however, a rush of memories hit him, memories that he had forgotten, memories of when he was still Haruka. Yet, he couldn’t seem to be able to put a finger on whose memories those belonged to. Konoha clutched his head in pain. He tumbled backwards into the wall and slid down onto the floor. Tears exited his eyes, but he didn’t understand why. Finally, the pain had gotten unbearable and he let out a scream before falling unconscious.


	3. Nightmares

“Ah!” A figure screamed waking up from their slumber, their eyes turning from red to black.

“Master, is everything okay?” A concerned voice was projected out of the computer speakers.

“Hm? Yeah, I’m fine Ene.” The figure replied, while breathing heavily.

“Another nightmare, master?” Ene inquired.

“Yeah.” The boy replied.

Having nightmares had become an everyday occurrence for Shintaro. Ever since meeting the Mekakushi Dan, he has had the same type of nightmares every night. August 15th, everyone in the Mekakushi Dan dies, except for Mary. Sometimes he would dream of killing others, sometimes he dies first. Either way, he had to witness his friends and family die every night.

He let out an annoyed sigh, “What time is it, Ene?”

“It is precisely three thirty five in the morning.” The girl in the computer replied, “Master, you should go back to bed.”

Ever since the constant nightmares, Ene had been more considerate to Shintaro; the constant bittering had lessened as well as the teasing. She was worried about him. Despite all the blackmailing and being a constant thorn in his thigh, she still cared for him. Every night, the nightmares seem to get worse. Sometimes she would here struggles of help in his sleep, and there was nothing she could have done but to watch. Sometimes, would wonder to herself what will it be like if Shintaro does something stupid. _Ayano…_ Ene thought to herself, grieving silently.

“What’s the point, I will just have to witness everyone dying again.” Shintaro responded and stood up from his bed.

He went out side of his temporary room in the Mekakushi Dan’s hideout. The living room is empty and quiet. He went through it and reached the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator and took out a canned soda. He flipped the tab on the tin can and popped it open. The fizzing sound echoed in the base. As he was about to close the fridge, he noticed an empty cup sitting on the kitchen counter.

“It must be Kido’s,” He exclaimed to himself before putting the cup under the sink and rinsed it with tap water.

“Hey master, I think you should seek out some professional help. You can’t just keep having nightmares like this,” Ene suggested through the speaker of her master’s phone, “Here I pulled up some therapist that work close to here as well as your house.”

Noticing the worriedness from his digital companion, Shintaro quickly replied with a smile, “Ene everything will be fine, I’m sure it’s just a phase. It will go away, I promise.”

Shintaro, who always had been a lone wolf, appreciated Ene’s concern. He had lessened the amount of shouting towards the little cybernetic friend. After washing the empty cup, he headed back into his room. He sat in front of his computer, and started to compose his new music piece. He was never able to finish a piece of music, but the constant night terrors had turned somewhat of productivity for him. The brightness of the screen illuminated Shintaro’s face. He’s eyes were tired, and there were heavy eye bags. As he sipped on his coke, and continuing work on his music, he became drowsier. Not long afterwards, his eyes slowly shut together and his head lowered onto the desk. Just before his eyes closed fully, his pupils turned from black to red.

             “Hey, Shintaro, you need to get over Ayano, and focus on the future.” Ene’s bickering voice kept attacking Shintaro’s eardrums.

He tried to cover his eyes with his pillow, but her annoying voice kept making its way into his ears.

“Shut up!” He screamed.

Ene stopped, shocked by his sudden raise of voice, but then continued, “I’m not gonna shut up unless you move on.” She commented, it wasn’t uncommon for her “master” to suddenly raise his voice.

“No, I mean it, shut up!” Shintaro continued yelling. He stood up from his bed and headed towards his computer. “I’m sick of you and your stupid opinions. You helped me with nothing, and just a complete waste of space! All you have been telling me is ‘Move on,’ ‘Forget about her’, and other bullshit like that. Who do you think you are to comment on human behaviorism? You’re nothing but a worthless piece of garbage that no ever wanted. I hate you so much, you blue haired, retarded freak.” He continued his vocal outrage.

Virtual tears welled up in Ene’s eyes, “if you hate me so much why don’t you just delete me?”

The boy with the red jersey stopped himself from continuing his verbal onslaught, “What did you just say?”

“I said, if you hate me so much why don’t you just delete me!” Ene yelled out.

Shintaro looked down, contemplating about what she had just said.

“You’re right, I should.”

The virtual girl didn’t know what to react. She watched as her master furiously typed into the terminal.

“I… Shintaro, you’re not actually going to…” She commented. No response came from the other end. “I see… You want me gone this badly huh? Goodb-”

Before she can finish her sentence her existence was wiped out by a push of a button. Shintaro let out a sigh, before heading back into his bed. He tried to go back to sleep, but he couldn’t. He felt there’s an overwhelming ache in his body. He kept thinking about his decision of deleting Ene. He was slowly regretting it.

“Ene? I’m sorry… I didn’t mean to do it.” He apologized.

No one answered.

“I’m sorry I deleted you, but you can come back right? I mean you always do.” He asked before turning around to look at his computer screen. It was just a desktop with some programs and folders. He sat up from his bed.

“Stop messing around, Ene. I know you can come back, you’re backed up into a cloud.”

Nothing.

He stood up and went to his computer. He realized that maybe Ene was deleted for good this time. The heartache overcame any other feelings in his body. Guilt had came back to haunt him. _I killed another one of my friend._ He thought to himself. _It’s all my fault._ Rivers of tears streamed down his face. Suddenly an idea came to him. He reached into his drawers and pulled out a pair of scissors. Under his tear ridden face was a smile. He held it to his throat.

“I’m sorry…”

He muttered as he sliced his throat open. He can feel warm liquid shooting out of his throat as he slowly fade into unconsciousness.

As he was fading, he can hear the small echo of voice, “Master, master!” It sounded like Ene. _Even in death she still haunts me_ , he thought to himself as life was drained from him.

              “Master, master! Wake up!”

Shintaro slowly opened his eyes and scanned the room he was in. He felt droplets of sweat pouring from his forehead, and he found it was hard to breathe.

“Master, were you having a nightmare again?” Ene asked worriedly.

“No, not this time, don’t worry,” Shintaro lied to the virtual enigma of a girl who was not calm, “anyways, what time is it?”

“It’s nine thirty in the morning now.” Ene replied. She knew the jersey wearing neet was lying, but she understood that he had good intentions when he lied.

“Everyone’s awake now, and they seem to talking the disappearance of Kano, Kido, and Konoha.” She informed him.

“What do you mean disappear?” He inquired.

Ene shook her head to signify that she didn’t know.

“You didn’t need to lie,” she whispered.

“Sorry, what’s that?” Shintaro asked in curiosity.

“Hm? Nothing.” Ene responded.

Shintaro walked out of his room and saw the rest of the gang discussing around the couch.

Momo caught her brother in the corner of her eye, “Brother, have you seen Kano, commander, and –” she asked urgently.

“No, but I did find a cup with a bit of remainder tea inside of it when I woke up last night. I just thought that she went to sleep and forgot to wash the cup or something.” Shintaro responded, then proceed to sit with the rest.

“We have to find them, they can’t just disappear over night.” Seto commented.

“What if they got kidnapped?” Mary asked, trembling at that thought.

“Mary calm down, they won’t be kidnapped, especially with Konoha being there,” Seto answered, trying to calm the medusa down.

Shintaro suddenly stood up and walked away from the group.

“Where are you going?” Momo asked.

“Have any of you checked if the door’s locked?” He responded. When he reached the door, he noticed that door wasn’t locked, as the lock mechanism cannot be seen in between the door and the doorframe.

“The door’s not locked!” He yelled back. “That means either they did get kidnapped,” As soon as Shintaro stated that, Mary started panicking again, “or that something very urgent happened and they left the house in a hurry,” he finished.

“Well, I guess the only thing that can be done is to wait for them to come back,” Seto concluded logically.

Momo came up with another idea, “I can also ask my followers on social media and see if they know anything.”

“No need for that, I think I just found them.” A voice came out of Shintaro’s phone. He took it out and saw a news article Ene had put up on the phone browser. He read the article and his eyes suddenly widened. He put his phone back into his pocket and commanded the rest of the Dan.

“We need to head to the hospital, now.”


	4. Conflict

              The air was cooler than usual to signify the closing of summer. The Mekakushi Dan, followed Shintaro to a hospital relatively close to base. As they approached the reception, he stopped in his tracks. His confident stride turned into panic.

“Hey, Momo, do you think you can ask the reception lady where Kido is located?”

A sigh can be heard from both Ene and Momo herself.

“Brother, you’re so useless when it actually come to an emergency situation.” She responded, unpleased with her brother cowardliness.

“Hi,” She greeted as she walked up to the reception, “I wonder which room Tsubomi Kido is located at, we’re her friends.”

“She’s in room 314, take the elevator to the third floor and then follow the directory there,” The nurse responded.

“Thank you!” the idol gestured.

She walked back to the rest of the Dan and they headed to the third floor. After they exit the elevator, they started to search for the room 314.

“Hmm, the lady downstairs said there would be a directory on this floor…” Momo announced confusedly, as she couldn’t locate it.

“Hmm, can’t seem to find any on this end either,” Seto responded looking opposite directions of where Momo is looking.

“If we can’t find the directory, we won’t be able to find Kido. What if she dies in her room, and the last wish was to see us, but we couldn’t get to her in time.” Marry started to panic.

“I think it’s probably down this path,” Shintaro concluded, “The number on this room states 304.”

The rest of the group mentally hit themselves on the top of their heads, wondering how they haven’t thought about looking at the closest room numbers. As the walked down the path, Marry noticed that Seto had gotten more tensed. She knew how close he is to Kido and instinctively held onto his arm; trying to calm him down and making him feel a sense of security.

“Don’t worry, Seto I’m sure she will be fine.” She added.

Seto looked down at Marry and gave her a small smile and an understanding nod. Suddenly a familiar figured appeared in front of them, dragged by two nurses.

“Where are you taking me?” the figure responded, struggling to get out of the grasp of the two nurses.

“Sir, calm down, we will just bring you to the examination room for a check up. Patients heard you scream and when we checked the room, we saw you fainted on the ground.” One of the nurse responded.

“Konoha?” The Dan all questioned.

“Oh hi, can you tell the nurse I have to get back to watch over Kano and Kido please, they won’t let me go,” Konoha pleaded.

“Are you this man’s friends?” The other nurse asked.

“Yes, we are and don’t worry about him, he’s a little mentally unstable, and needed someone to look after him. We have his prescribed drugs that he needs to take, we can handle him from here.” Momo responded with an elaborated lie.

“Oh, but we should still-” The nurse was about to start before having Konoha dragged out of their hands by the pop idol.

“It’s seriously fine,” She stated, putting on an unnatural smile.

The two nurses walked away confused to what that whole situation was about.

“I expected nothing less from you Momo,” a voice came from the speakers of Shintaro’s phone.

“Thanks, Ene.” She responded with a wide grin.

The jersey-wearing teenager took his phone out of his pocket and commented, “Hey suddenly speaking out of the speakers can make others suspicious you know.”

Konoha saw the blue haired figure on Shintaro’s phone and greeted her, “Hi, Takane.”

“Takane?”

Everyone looked at the white haired figure in confusion, except for Ene.

“What did you call me?” She asked in a quieter voice.

“Ah, sorry, I don’t know why I said the name Takane, I don’t really know where it came from.” Konoha explained, smiling away, embarrassed, while rubbing the back of his head.

“Hey master, can I just have a little bit of alone time with Konoha please? It won’t be long.”

Shintaro, stilled confused, responded, “Sure,” and headed his phone to Konoha.

_Takane? Why do I feel like I heard of it before?_ He thought to himself.

The rest of the group continued on forwards towards Kido’s room.

“We’re here,” The red jersey wearing carefree responded.

                As they stood in front of the room, all of the members felt a sense of overwhelming dread. They feared about the brutality that their leader had to endure. Shintaro opened the door, and all four members present at the hospital entered the room. They walked up to Kido’s bed and saw a sleeping Kano holding tightly onto the unconscious leader’s hand on her broken, casted left arm. They looked peaceful together.

“Hey, Seto, I think you probably want more of an alone time with these two, so Momo and I will wait outside. Marry can come with us too if you’d like.” Shintaro suggested.

“Um… No, Marry can stay, but yeah, it would nice to let just Marry and I have some alone time with them.” Seto responded, with a smile.

Marry was looking at the overall wearing youth while he smiled. She can see the small twitches the corners of his lips made. _He’s close to breaking down,_ She thought. Shintaro signaled Momo out of the room and let the two stay behind. As soon as the door closed shut, tears rolled down Seto’s eyes. He tried to cover it by placing his right forearm. Marry quickly turned him around and hugged him tightly.

“It’s okay, Seto, it’s going to be fine.” She said, attempting to comfort him.

He walked to the right side of the bed, in between Kido and the window. “Why do you have try and do everything yourself? You could have woken me up, or any of us, to go with you… Why didn’t you? You don’t always have to carry all the weight on your shoulder’s y’know.” Seto asked.

He felt responsible for Kido’s suffering, but also angered at the fact that Kano didn’t stop her. He had a strong suspicion that Kano was the reason that Kido was brutally assaulted. He glared at the sleeping Kano across the bed.

“I can feel you looking at me.” Suddenly Kano replied as if he was wide-awake.

“I know you were just using your eye, Kano.” Seto stated, tears still flowing down his eyes, impairing a bit of his vision.

He stood up and walked up to Kano.

“Hey, watch the personal space,” the blonde haired boy joked, and stood up as well. However, the humorous mood was interrupted by a punch. Marry screamed and watched Kano crashed into a medical cart next to Kido’s bed.

“Why didn’t you stop her?!” Seto asked, lifting Kano by his collar.

The medusa quickly ran next to Kano. “Seto, stop!”

“You’ve always been so selfish, Shuuya! You have done nothing useful for the entire time we have been together. The only thing you have ever accomplished is making stupid remarks at everyone. You’re worthless! Look at Kido,” Seto pointed to their unconscious friend with one hand, the other still holding Kano by his collar, “She’s dying because of you!”

“Stop!” Marry yelled, “What’s wrong with you Seto? You’ve always remained calm and reasonable! This isn’t like you, snapped out of it! Yes, Kano can be a little mean sometimes, but that’s no reason to call him useless!”

As these words entered the mind of the overall wearing youth, he realized that he had gone too far. He suddenly realized that Kano was crying while gritting his teeth. He slowly released his grip on the blonde boy’s collar. “I’m… I’m sorry… I don’t know-”

“Shut up.” Kano cut off an apologizing Seto.

“Kano…”

“I said, shut. Up. You… You don’t understand the amount of pain that I have to go through.” Kano started; his words were shaky. “I had to... Watch… as Tsubomi ran out of the door. I had to see her bloodied body as Konoha took her away… I get it… I’m useless… I’m a worthless sack of shit… But do you, Seto, I ask you; do you have any idea… what it’s like to know that you are the sole reason that the person you care about the most in this world is DYING on a stupid hospital bed? Do you?” he asked.

Seto knew this was no deception. Every word that had just been said by the blonde haired boy was absolutely truthful. He had rarely seen Kano like this. The last time he saw this side of him was around two years ago, when Ayano committed suicide.

“Kido is also important to me Kano…” Seto replied back, not fully knowing what is the right response in this scenario, “She’s like a sister to me.”

The response was quickly retaliated by Kano, “well, I love her.”

Both Marry and Seto were shocked by what he had said. Marry was especially shocked. She remembered the day when she had asked Kano if he likes their leader or not. He never gave a straight answer that day.

“I…” Seto started, but didn’t know what to say.

Kano walked towards his chair and sat down. He was embarrassed. He didn’t mean to confess but at the heat of the moment, it just slipped out of his mouth.

“Just, just leave me alone for a while.” Kano stated.

Seto didn’t move at first, still in shock from what Kano said. Noticing this, Marry walked towards Seto and gave him a small tuck on his sleeve.

“Seto, I think Kano needs a bit of time by himself,” She told him. The green overall jumpsuit figure nodded and they left the room.

As they stepped outside, they saw that the other four members had already gathered in front of the room.

“I think, it’s best for us to visit another time.” Seto suggested.


	5. Promise

          As Shintaro slowly closed the door behind both him and Momo, they sat down in the chairs right outside the hospital room. They sat there in silence. Momo seems to have wanted to say something every once in a while, she would open her mouth, but then immediately close it.

“Momo, if you have something to say to me just say it.” Shintaro spoke out, finally breaking the silence.

“Have you really been having nightmares every night recently?” Momo asked but her gaze was fixated onto the floor.

Her brother, looked at her in awe. _Damn it, Ene, you just had to run your mouth_ , he internally scolded.

“Well, it’s really not as bad as Ene suggest-” Shintaro started, but was cut off by the pop idol. “Tell me the truth brother.”

“Yes, yes I have been having a lot of nightmares.” The big brother gave in and answered truthfully.

“What were these nightmares about?” Momo continued questioning her brother.

“I don’t remember.” He prompted responded.

“Stop lying brother!” The idol yelled, her gaze never moving away from the cold white floor.

“Fine, every nightmare had been about watching the entire Mekakushi Dan die, or at least just some members before my death.” He gave in.

Momo turned to look at him with worrying eyes.

“Why did I have to find this out from Ene, brother? Why didn’t you tell this to me?” She asked, holding back the tears in her eye, “I’m also worried about you, you know? Every day you had look worse and worse. Your eye bags are getting heavier, your appetite had gone down, you just generally look awful.” Momo added.

Shintaro can see tears flooding his sister’s eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t tell you sooner Momo. I thought it would just go away, but I guess it never did stop.” He told his sister, while pulling her in for an embrace.

“Did you seek any medical help?” She asked, while snuggling herself into her brother’s warm embrace.

Shintaro had rarely shown this much affection. Not even to his own family. He always brushed them off with a quick untruthful answer and walk off into his own room.

“No.” He answered.

Upon hearing those words, Momo quickly pulled back from the hug. “Why not? You’re clearly suffering.”

“Don’t want to, cost too much, and I just generally hate talking about what I’ve been going through to strangers who know nothing about me.” Shintaro responded with three rapid responses to the question.

“So you’re just gonna live with these constant nightmares?” Momo asked stoically.

The figure in the red jersey knew this couldn’t end well. Whenever Momo was stoic it usually meant she was about to act in an extreme way, at least extreme in his opinion. Despite knowing the consequences that might lead from this answer, he still replied, “yeah.”

Suddenly a hand struck the side of his right cheek with full force.

“How dare you say that?” Momo slapped him and yelled. “Have you not thought of what others feel when watching you suffer immensely? Knowing you, you will break down from the constant nightmare one day and…” Momo slowly broke down into tears. “I don’t want to lose another one of my family members… Please Shintaro, just get some help before it’s too late… Don’t end up like dad” the idol leapt into the her brother’s torso and bawled.

Shintaro felt his heartache as he watched his little sister cry into his chest. He felt horrible for resisting to get help.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered before pulling her closer into his body.

Suddenly a sound of crashing and yelling can be heard from Kido’s hospital room. Shintaro noticed the sounded and wanted to stand up. However, as soon as he lifted his body, a weight prevented him from leaving. He noticed that his sister was holding onto him tightly. Not wanting to let him go. He looked at Momo in confusion at first, but then decided to stay by her side.

“I promise I will get some professional help,” He whispered.

The two stayed in this position until the shouting from with inside the room subsided. Momo lifted her head, looked at her brother with her big sad eyes and lifted up a hand with her pinky sticking out. Shintaro smiled and chuckled at this sight. _Still like a child huh?_ He thought to himself, before intertwining his pinky with hers.

“It’s a promise now, don’t break it.” She added.

“I know, I won’t.” Her brother replied.

In the distance, a set of footsteps can be heard. Both siblings turned their head towards the footsteps. Further down the hallway was Konoha walking slowly towards the room, while carrying Shintaro’s phone. It was difficult to tell, but Shintaro swore the phone was vibrating as if was sobbing.

“Hi, um, have your phone back.” Konoha headed the phone back to its owner.

As the phone was put into its owner’s hand, Ene can be seen hiding her face from her master.

Shintaro moved the phone close to his eyes, “Are those tears in your eye?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t have tears in my eye; you’re lying! Hmph!” She tried to defend herself.

Suddenly the door to the room opened and Seto and Marry exited from the room.

“I think, it’s best for us to visit another time.” Seto suggested.

“Why? What happened in there?” Momo asked.

“We heard some yelling from within, is everything okay?” Shintaro added.

“Kano just need a bit of time with Kido that’s all.” Seto replied.


	6. Memories

          As Konoha took Ene away from the group, the blue haired girl started. “Hey, back there, you called me Takane.”

“I told you it was just a mistake, I don’t know why I said that name.” Konoha quickly interjected due to his embarrassment.

“No, I am Takane, Takane Enomoto. Your former classmate? Do you remember?” Takane asked.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t remember such a person called Takane Enomoto. I mean I don’t think I’ve ever met you before I bumped into Shintaro when chasing after Hibiya.” Konoha replied.

He found a set of benches next to a vending machine near the elevator hall, and sat down. This was the last thing that Takane wanted to hear. He was her only classmate; they shared so many memories together, like the school festival, or the time they wanted to go watch cherry blossoms.

“You really don’t remember anything else, Haruka?” She asked, saddened that her ray of hope might be false.

“Haruka?” A name. A name that Konoha felt as if he knew, but he wasn’t sure from what, a name that somehow felt like his own, but yet from someone else. Sudden a piece of memory decided to creep its way into his subconscious.

           

_“Hey, Ene’s such a cool name, maybe I should have one as well.”_

_“Ene, from Takane Enomoto. Then for me I guess I would be called Konoha, from Haruka Kokonose!”_

 

“Kokonose…” Konoha whispered.

Takane widened her eyes. She knew he remembered something else. The hope she had wasn’t false.

“Yes, that’s your last name! You’re remembering!” She yelled out from the speakers of the phone, sending two short vibrations to signify her how ecstatic she was.

“Ah… You’re too loud…” Konoha covered his ears from the cybernetic human, dropping the phone onto his lap.

“You don’t know understand how long it has been since I wanted to talk to you Haruka… I wanted to have conversations with you ever since that day that you got sent to the hospital due to your illness.” She began, “I know that you still don’t remember much, but that’s okay, we will work on it together.”

Konoha, not fully comprehending what Takane had just said, gave a small smile of acknowledgement. Seeing his friends happy made him happy as well.

“Haruka, do you remember the school festival where we saw Shintaro, Kido, and Kano for the first time?” The human trapped in Shintaro’s phone asked with joy.

“Um, no…” Konoha responded.

“Try harder, try to remember! I believe in you!” The blue haired girl cheered on.

Konoha tried to close his eyes and focus on those memories that his friend mentioned. Suddenly a tremendous pain shot through his head. He let out a small cry, and started to clutch his head in pain. Imagines and words flashed before him, but they zoom past him before he can even comprehend them.

“What’s wrong? Come on try harder! How about the time you were naked with only your underwear when I walked into class?”

The white haired figure kept his grip tight on his head, but the pain seemed to be worsened.

“How about the time you wanted to invite me and Mr. Tateyama to watch the cherry blossoms. Just fight through the pain, you can do it!” Takane kept on trying.

“Stop… I’m in so much pain… Why wouldn’t the pain stop…? Ene… help me… I want the pain to stop!” Konoha yelled through his pain. “I don’t… want to suffer any more…”

“I don’t want to suffer” Those words stung Takane. She remembered that the reason that they are both in their current forms was because of her selfishness. She just wanted Haruka to pay attention to her and not the game. She just wanted him to turn to her and comfort her. It was because of her that he suffered a major attack. _Useless, selfish,_ She repeated in her head. _It’s my fault,_ she continued to pound herself with blames. _We wouldn’t be suffering if it weren’t for me…_ Tears broke out from Takane’s eyes, and she started to weep.

“I’m sorry, Haruka, it’s all my fault. I’m the reason, you’re suffering, I’m the reason you forgot everything. Please forgive me!” She continued to cry alone. No one in her little cybernetic world can embrace her. It was cold, and empty.

“I’m sorry, Ene… I’m sorry I made you sad. I didn’t mean to say all those things.” Konoha responded to her. He lifted the phone from his lap and pressed it against his chest. “I will try to remember as much as I can…”

Ene could see that Konoha had pressed the phone against his chest from the camera. Yet she still felt cold, a feeling that was rather common for her. Memories still rush past Konoha as if he was in a rapid, one slowed down however.

“But Takane, I want you to know that it wasn’t your fault for not being able to wake up in time. I never hated you for it, and I never will. That’s something else that I remember.” Haruka added, putting a smile on his face.

He moved the phone so it pointed to his face. For a moment, Konoha’s face didn’t look as pale, and he had black hair. For a moment, to Takane, he looked like Haruka. She bawled furiously, shocked to find that he remembered the one event that had plagued her throughout the entire duration of two years.

“You idiot…” She whispered through her bawl. _Cheering me up as always…_

“Come on, we should head back.”

              As Konoha walked back down the hallway, in the distance he could see Shintaro and Momo, holding their pinkies together, making a promise.

“There’s Shintaro,” Konoha informed the crying Ene.

She quickly wiped the tear off her face and tried to compose herself. As they reached the siblings, Konoha extended his arm out and handed the phone back, “Hi, um, have your phone back.”

Shintaro took the phone and caught a glimpse of Ene before she hurriedly covered her face with her hands. Upon further examination Shintaro could see a bit of pixelated water droplets near the corners of Ene’s face.

“Are those tears in your eye?”

“What are you talking about? I don’t have tears in my eye; you’re lying! Hmph!” She tried to defend herself.

Suddenly the door to the room opened and Seto and Marry exited from the room.

“I think, it’s best for us to visit another time.” Seto suggested.

“Why? What happened in there?” Momo asked.

“We heard some yelling from within, is everything okay?” Shintaro added.

“Kano just need a bit of time with Kido that’s all.” Seto replied.

“I see… I will come with you guys then,” Konoha decided.

            As the six leave the hospital each looked at each other as if they had something of a story to tell. Shintaro gave Momo reassuring smiles on the whole way, and Momo always responded by holding her pinky up and pointing to it, mouthing, “a promise”. Marry held onto Seto’s sleeve, occasionally asking a “How are you feeling?” every now and then. Seto’s response was a “Yes” with a pause before each answer. Shintaro told Konoha that he could keep the phone on their way back to the base. Takane would always give Haruka a smile, but whenever Haruka returned with one of his own, she would always go red cheeked and turn away. Back at the hospital, Kano still sitting in that very chair, constantly waiting for Kido to wake up. The constant beeping of the heart monitor didn’t even bother him. He was too fixated on Kido, hoping that she would wake up soon. However, as the continuous cycle of day turning into night and night turning into day, the Dan almost forgot about the danger of the snake. However, it sure wasn’t forgetting about them.


	7. Return

          A week had gone by since the day the Dan visited the hospital. Seto had been asked by all members to be the temporary boss and he accepted. However, everyday was stressful for the green overall wearing teen. In the morning, he had to wake up before the sun comes out to get ready for work, and at night he would make sure that every member of the Mekakushi Dan sleeps first before he does. It had been somewhat of a challenge, but with Marry on his side helping out with most of the chores, the challenge felt less tedious. Another new habit that Seto had gained for the past week was to always stay awake for half an hour after everyone’s asleep before going to bed. Kano hadn’t returned home at all since the day Kido was brutally attacked. Seto would wait aimlessly in the living room, hoping that the doorknob would turn and that blonde haired liar would step in with his usual smug smile, but it never happened. This night being another night in which Seto waited. _Still nothing huh?_ He thought. He stood up from the couch and pressed the bull’s eye in the dartboard on the wall to turn off the light, and headed into his room. As soon as the door to his room clicked shut, a familiar blonde figure entered the base. The truth is, he had been back almost every night, grabbing some snacks and a quick shower before heading back out again. His figure was slouched, and he had eye bags so severe they made him look like a panda. He sneakily went to the fridge and grabbed a box of chocolate as well as a can of Shintaro’s soda. As he closed the fridge, the lights to the base came back on. Suddenly realized that he was caught, he turned around with his eyes red and looked as normal as possible.

“Kano, you’re back…” Seto greeted with awe. He had been waiting to see Kano for so long and he had finally showed up.

“Oh hi, Seto. I was just grabbing some drinks and snacks, I better head out now.” Kano smiled and responded, slowly walking towards the door.

The overall wearing teen stopped him in his tracks by holding onto his arm.

“I know right now you don’t want to talk to me, and just want to head back to Kido, but please just stay for a while.” Seto begged, his eyes turned from red back to normal.

“Wow you would actually waste using your ability on me, I’m honoured,” Kano commented with sarcasm.

“I just want a talk,” Seto stated.

“Fine, I will stay just for a bit.” The blonde teen agreed.

The two sat on the couch and Seto started, “I just want to first say that I’m sorry. I’m sorry for accusing and yelling at you at the hospital, I was just –”

“Don’t worry, I understand.” The liar cut off Seto with an acknowledging response. “I’m guessing you’re going to ask about the whole “I love her” thing, right?” Kano asked.

Seto opened his mouth about to say something, but was stopped by the other boy, “I know it must have came as a shock to you, and it’s reasonable to be shocked. I was shocked when Marry first asked me if I like Kido or not. I guess after that whole event in which Kido willing sacrificed herself just to get revenge for me, I made the conclusion. Granted I did like her for a very long time. I guess that’s what helped me cope with all the punching and yelling from her.” He finished, not knowing what else to say.

“I wasn’t actually about to ask about that, but hearing your statement about it did help me settle a part of my mind. What I was going to ask was why did you have to hide your returns to the base?” The temporary leader asked, “ I mean you made it pretty obvious that you did come back considering that you took other people’s snacks and food, and also not putting away your used towel after showering.” He added.

“For exact moments like this. I want to get back to Kido as soon as I can, and I don’t really feel like being asked a bunch of questions.” The blonde hair boy answered.

“Makes sense, but you looked tired. Kano, stay the night, I’m sure Kido will be fine.” Seto suggested.

“No, I have to go back, I can’t afford risking if anything happens.” Kano replied.

The temporary leader of the Mekakushi Dan couldn’t tell if it was his own tiredness or not, but Kano seemed to be rocking from side to side a tiny bit. “Just stay, you’re tired.” He persisted.

“I told you I’m-” and with that Kano’s consciousness faded away from him as he fell into deep slumber.

As Kano was about to crash onto the floor, Seto ran leapt towards him and lifted him up. He carried him to the liar’s own room and laid him in bed, covering him with his blanket.

“No wonder Kido has to worry about you so much…” Seto silently commented.

            The sun was setting on a beautiful summer afternoon. Kano and Kido were sitting on a bench near the seaside. It was rare for the gang to go to the beach, but to celebrate Kido’s release from the hospital, they did.

“I never thanked you for avenging me.” Kano stated.

“I didn’t want one,” Kido answered with the same cold emotionless voice as always. She was still wearing a cast on her left arm.

“Don’t you think this sunset is beautiful, Kido?” The blonde boy asked.

“Yeah, it is.” The leader of the Dan answered. “Look at them playing in the sand, they like a bunch of kids,” Kido commented, pointing towards Momo shooting a water gun at Marry and her running away towards Seto, trying to use him as cover.

“Aren’t you still a kid too?” Kano made a wise remark, which let out a smile chuckle from the hooded teen.

“I guess you’re right,” she responded.

“Hey, I want to tell you something,” Kano said, tapping on Kido’s shoulder.

“Go on,” the girl responded.

The blonde hair boy embarrassingly turned away from her.

“Well, you still I’ve been thinking about this for awhile now, well, Tsubomi, I love-”

He turned around to find Kido lying limp the back of the bench, with a large gash on her body. The tear started from her chest all the way down to her abdomen. Blood leaked from the wound and slowly flowed down the bench onto the concrete floor. The sickening sound of dripping can be heard as each droplet made contact with the cold pavement. Kido’s innards poured out of her body, with her intestines falling from her abdomen onto the hard ground. More red fluid seeped through the mouth of Kido, tainting her pale skin. Kano didn’t know what to react, but he felt his mouth being opened. That was when he realized he was screaming, screaming from the top of his lungs.

“Kido!” He yelled.

           “Kido!” Kano yelled as he wake up from a terrible nightmare.

He sat up and tried to compose himself. He held onto his shirt tightly to regain balance to his breathing. He instantly looked forwards to check on an unconscious Kido, but he realized that he was in his room. He looked at the clock next to his bedside lamp and it read eight thirty.

“Shit,” he whispered to himself and dragged his body out of the bed.

He ran out of his room and out of the main door into the streets. When he reached the streets, it was crowded with people. _It’s still rush hour_ , he thought to himself, before letting out a quiet “Damn it.” He sprinted as fast as he could towards the hospital. While he crossed the final stop light before the hospital, he felt as if he had bumped into someone. The figure felt familiar to him, but he didn’t care. He ran into the elevator and rode it up the third floor, and opened the door to room 314 with force and headed inside. However, he wasn’t greeted by an unconscious Kido. Inside the room were two nurses cleaning up the equipment that was used to sustain the hooded girl in her medical state. _Shit, was I too late? Did she…_ Kano thought.

He approached one of the nurses and asked, “Hi, what happened to the girl who was here?”

“Oh, she was released just a couple of minutes ago.” The nurse responded. Then something hit him, something he should have caught earlier.

“Oh, okay, thank you!” He responded before bolting back to the base. When he opened the door to the base once again, he was greeted by the girl with a cast on her left arm sitting on the couch. “Good morning, Kano.” Kido greeted.


	8. Leave

             The constant beeping in the hospital room that Kido was located in could drive anyone crazy if they heard it for long enough, but that didn’t stop the liar to stay by her side. He sat quietly waiting for even just the tinniest of twitch from the green haired girl.

“When are you going to wake up?” The boy let out a small sigh before getting out of the chair he had sat in for hours.

“I will be back, Kido, just gonna go grab some food and a quick shower.” He announced, knowing the other won’t respond or even hear him.

As he opened the door and headed outside, a small twitch came from the index finger of the girl’s right hand. However, Kano was too far away to notice such a small movement. As the door closed, more movements can be seen from Kido’s right hand. A small grunt was audible in the room. Kido was waking up. As she slowly opened her eyes, a blurred world became more focused. Not able to comprehend where she was, she scanned the room and concluded that she was in a hospital. She turned her head towards her right hand and she noticed a needle stuck into the back of her palm. She moved her fingers in a ripple motion and raised it up. She examined the hand as if she had just seen it for the first time before lowering it back onto the bed. She tried to wiggle her fingers on her left hand, but she felt some resistance. As she looked down towards her left hand she noticed a cast wrapped around her left forearm. It extended all the way down to her palm. Then she remembered. She remembered that her arm was broken by the thugs who attacked Kano. Looking up at the ceiling, she still couldn’t believe she survived. A strange discomfort suddenly came from her nostrils. It felt as if something was attached into her nose. As she moved her right hand towards her face, she felt two plastic tubes. _Nasal cannula_ , she thought to herself. A beeping could be heard towards her left side and she turned her head to look at it. She saw a large machine with a screen attached to it. On the screen it displayed her heart rate as well as her blood pressure. As she turned her head back towards the ceiling, she started to wonder what time it was. It was fairly dark out of the window and since most buildings had their lights shut, she concluded it was after business time, which would be around nine to nine thirty. A more relevant question then came to her. How long was she unconscious for? There was no way to tell the date but judging from how the air conditioning in the room was at a comfortable cool temperature, it had to be near the end of summer, or maybe the beginning of September. _That means I’m probably been out for about two to three days maybe_ , she thought to herself before realising she had no clue what was the date for when she was first sent to the hospital. However, all of this didn’t matter to Kido. She was the leader of the Mekakushi Dan, which means all of the members are probably waiting eagerly for her return. She tried to sit up but a wave of pain shot through her abdominal area. She pulled down her blanket and pulled up her hospital gown to reveal a scar on her belly. The scar was stitched up and wasn’t small by any means. Feeling further discomfort near her chest area, she pulled her gown up further to show another scar, this one being longer and was located at the center of her chest. After looking at the scars, the leader of the Dan drew her gown back down. Suddenly an observation came to mind. This one wasn’t as major as the other, but something that was still noted by Kido. She found a chair right next to her bedside on the left and looked as if someone had recently been sitting on it. _Probably Kano_ , she concluded. It was a reasonable guess; no one apart from Kano would leave the Dan at such hour. Still, the gesture moved Kido; it put a small smile on her face thinking about it. After observing her room for a while she thought wise to sleep before trying to negotiate with the doctors for her release.

The morning came, or at least, Kido knew it was morning. The sun was not up yet, but slight rays can be seen from a distance. Kido had a pleasant sleep, one that she hadn’t had prior the attack. She tried to sit up again, but to no prevail; the pain was too excruciating to bear. However she was determined. She rolled onto her right side and used her arm strength to lift herself up before pushing into an up right position with her abdominal strength. She saw a button right next the bed and decided to press on it. After a few seconds, a nurse came into the room. Noticing that Kido was up, she went to call a doctor over. As she returned an old doctor came into the room with her.

“I want to be released.” Kido commanded with an authoritative tone.

“Now, now, no need to rush, you still need time to recover.” The doctor advised.

“No, I want to be released today. Preferably right now. I have to get back to my family, they probably need me to help them.” The leader of the Dan replied with half of a lie.

“Don’t you even think about helping out with the chores or, even worse, hard labour. In your condition right now, the best you can do is to rest in the hospital.” The doctor replied back with a bewildered tone.

“Doctor, please I just need to get back to them. My grandpa is probably worried to death about me, just please release me!” Kido asked desperately, making the lie sound more convincing. She had picked up a few tricks from Kano about lying. Most of the tricks were learned unintentionally, but rather what she picked up from the constant use by the blonde haired boy.

“Hmm… Mind if I talk to this girl alone just for a bit?” The doctor asked before signaling the nurse to leave. As the nurse left the room, the old man walked up to the injured Kido.

“I’ve got grandchildren of my own, mind you, I can see right through your lies. Now tell me, this is just between us, why do you want to leave so badly?” The doctor asked, sounding as if it was a parent talking to their child. Kido thought about the question carefully and crafted an answer that was well enough to tell the truth but not giving everything away.

“I’m living with two other orphans in an apartment. A couple years ago, we lost the family that was taking care of us. On the gravesite of the family, I have sworn to become the leader of the group. With me in the hospital I don’t know how long they will be able to take care of themselves.”

The old man smiled and placed a hand on the green haired girl’s broken forearm.

“That wasn’t so hard was it? Now that I know the real reason I will consider letting you out today, as long as you promise me that you won’t be doing any heavy lifting work, you understand?” He patted her on the shoulder and asked.

“I promise.”

“Good,” the doctor said as he left the room.

            Around an hour or so had gone by and nurses came into the room to help remove the medical equipment on Kido. First they detached the oxygen feeding tube, then they removed the suction cups that was placed on the girl’s chest to monitor her heart rate. Lastly they removed the needle that was on the back of Kido’s right hand. The entire process lasted less than what the leader had anticipated, but she was glad. She still had to wear the cast round her forearm, which annoyed her, but she understood that her arm was still very much broken and needed time to recover. As she step down on to the floor, she felt somewhat free. It had been a while since she had gone off of this bed, and to feel the cold hard floor underneath her feet made her feel alive. Then a familiar figure walked into the room.

“I see that you’re already preparing to leave. Here I brought your clothes.” The doctor told Kido as he tossed her apparel onto the bed.

“Thanks, about the medical bill…” Kido started, “I can try to work –”

“Hey, what did I say, no hard labour. Don’t make me regret releasing you. Also don’t worry about the bill I covered it for you. I understand how hard it must be for you to gather enough money for this.” The old man announced.

The green haired girl, speechless from the kind gesture from the man, could only let out a “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, it’s all good.” The doctor replied. “Anyways I will leave now, just so you know right now is around eight thirty.”

Kido nodded and waited for him to leave before changing into her clothes. After putting on her undergarments, and her long cargo pants. She looked at her blood stained hoodie. It was ruined by the cut and the unbelievable amount of red liquid that was on them. Kido reluctantly put it on and headed out of the hospital. As she exited her room, her eyes turned red, making her presence almost invisible to others. She made her way to the first stop light and in the distance, she could see a familiar black hooded figure running past a crowded street. Before she could see the figure properly, she was pushed by the crowd to move. As she crossed the street, said figure bumped into her, however the other didn’t seem to notice. She turned around to see who it was and saw Kano rushing toward the hospital, She tried to reach out to him, but the crowd kept pushing. The look on his face showed signs of worriedness and it almost seemed as if he had tears in his eyes. Kido knowing it was too late to stop him, decided to head to the base and wait for him there. As Kido pulled out her keys from within her cargo pants and unlock the door, an overwhelming sensation hit her. _I’m home,_ she thought. As she stepped into the little room, she took a deep breath before sitting down on the couch. As she waited for the blonde haired boy to show up, she couldn’t help but to feel a sense of deja vu. After waiting for just a few minutes, the doorknob turned and Kido greeted a surprised Kano.

“Good morning, Kano.”


	9. Care

         “Kido… You’re…” Kano was speechless from the sight, the very thing he had been wanting for so long had came true.

“Yes, I’m released Kano,” Kido made a quick reply.

“But how? You were unconscious just yesterday,” Kano asked in disbelief.

“I talked to one of the doctors,” Kido, again, responded with a quick answer.

She attempted to get up from the couch, but a sudden pain shot through her abdomen. She let out a small grunt before falling back down onto the couch she was sitting on.

“Kido!” The blonde haired boy yelled out and leapt towards his leader.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” The green haired girl replied still wincing from the pain.

“Why didn’t you stay in the hospital, you still need to recover.” The liar exclaimed, scolding the injured Kido, “You don’t always have to keep up the tough act you know.”

He put her right arm over his shoulder and lifted her up, putting the least amount of pressure as possible. Kido suddenly shot Kano a look and punched him on the top of his head. She was offended by that statement, how dared he think that she could just drop the act. She had made a promise to Ayano after all. However, the blonde boy unexpectedly didn’t smile at the pain. He looked serious. The leader of the Mekakushi Dan knew this was out of character for him and waited for him to start.

“Kido, why do you always have to be so insistent on your role as the leader? I know you promised Ayano that you will take care of us, but do you really have to take every matter into your own hand? You almost got yourself killed because of my stupid mistake, and instead of acting like a normal sensible human being, you just had to run out and attack those shit heads!” Kano screamed at Kido, and he didn’t look as he was going to stop, “Do you know how worried I was when you ran out of the house? Thank God, Konoha was awake during that time, otherwise you would dead, dead and mutilated and probably dumped into a garbage disposal somewhere! Have you ever thought about what would happen to me if I lose you too?”

The last question came out of Kano like a mistimed canon. He didn’t mean to make it personalized to only himself. He didn’t want to give away his secret to Kido just yet. Realising that Kido’s shocked expression, he quickly added, “And have you thought about Seto and Marry? What would they do? Marry will probably have a mental breakdown from your death.” He added, sounding way less confident than how he was at first.

The green haired girl had her head cocked to the side for just a moment, looking shocked, but quickly regained her posture. She stared at him with the same cold eyes before storming off into her room. She quickly shut the door behind her. Thoughts flowed through her head as she slowly slid down the back of the door. She looked at her broken left arm and thought about the stitches on her body. _God I’m selfish…_ She concluded. Her promise to Ayano was to keep everyone safe, not to throw herself into every danger that the Dan faced. She then remembered how devastated everyone was when their big sister died. Everyone including her cried for days on end, skipping meals became common for the three, no matter how much Kenjirou Tateyama, the father of the family who adopted them, had knocked on their door, they would never respond. Kano was the very next thing that came to her mind. He was there when she jumped off. He watched her body fell off the building and hit the hard canvas beneath. _I can’t make Kano experience that again…_ She thought to herself, and realising how close it was for him to face the death of another person he dearly cared about. Kido slowly sunk into herself, her legs clutched up against her body.

“I’m so selfish…” She told herself.

“I’m so selfish…” She repeated.

The more she thought about her action, the more she realized that they had been twisted from what their original intent was. Taking matters into your own hands doesn’t mean you’re protecting the people you love, sometimes it can do more harm than they intend. The hooded figure slammed her fist down onto the floor, making a loud thud.

“Mmm…” A muffled sound could be heard from her bed.

She looked up and focused her vision onto the bed. On the bed, she saw, laid Momo. The injured figure stood up slowly, using the door to support herself. No matter what she does, the pain still didn’t seem to want to stop. As she slowly moved towards the bed, she could feel the throbbing coming from her scar. She sat down on the edge of the bed, and observed the peaceful idol. _She’s cute when she’s sleeping_ , Kido thought. The pop idol could be slightly too loud and obnoxious when she is awake, but in slumber, she looked like an angel.

“Mmm… You better… You own me red bean soda…” Momo said in her sleep.

Kido smiled a bit at the sight of this. She tried to get up but the pain shot tumbling towards the floor. Suddenly Kido felt a tremendous amount of pain from her chest. _Must’ve knocked into the bed post when I fell_ , she thought. However, the pain wasn’t the only discomfort the green haired girl was experiencing. She felt as she couldn’t breath. Kido tightened her fist into ball. Every time she inhaled it was as if nothing had entered her lungs. She let out a small yelp as she struggled on the floor. The loud thud from the fall awoken a sleeping Momo.

“Mmm… What? Who is it? What you want?” The idol asked in a sluggish voice.

She slowly sat up and looked at the source of the thud. On the floor laid Kido, clutching onto her chest tightly with her right hand, unable to breath. Startled by this, Momo quickly jumped off of the bed and went to her leader’s side.

“Commander, are you okay? What can I get you?” She asked panicked.

The leader wasn’t able to give any response. Momo didn’t know what to do. _Uh… I will try putting her on the bed._ She thought. She turned her leader over with and she tried to lift her up. However, as soon as she lifted her of the ground, her arms gave out, dropping the suffocating girl onto her side. A grunt could be heard in between the rapid breathing.

“Ah!,” Momo screamed. She wrapped her hand around her head and apologized, “I’m so sorry, commander!” Tears of panic welled up in the idol’s eyes, before finally calling for help. “Someone help, commander’s dying!” The pop idol yelled at the top of her lungs.

Kano who was sitting in the living heard the cry for help and ran into the room.

“What’s happening?” He asked hurriedly.

Momo just silently pointed to Kido, while her tear droplets fell onto the ground. The liar noticed the ragged breathing from green haired girl and quickly picked her up and placed her onto the bed. He made sure to lay her on her side. He remembered something that was taught by Ayano once, and started to remove Kido’s hoodie. Momo’s tears stopped and suddenly her cheek grew red. She shyly turned away, not understanding what was going to happen next.

Kano slightly turned his head and asked the idol, “What the hell do you think I was about to do, Kisaragi? Removing and loosening someone’s clothing helps with their difficulty breathing.”

“Oh,” Momo replied, slightly embarrassed after that statement.

The boy turned back towards Kido and started to rubbed the back of the injured girl and hoped that she would get better.

“Hang in there, Kido…” He said while holding onto the girl’s casted hand.

After a while, Kido’s breathing returned normal.

“Why did you have to push yourself to get released?” The liar asked, frustrated.

Kido slowly turned onto her back, she rested her right arm on her forehead.

“I’m sorry for being so rash all the time…” She apologized still breathing a little heavily.

The liar sighed but suddenly an idea came to his mind. “Well, to compensate,” suddenly the playful Kano was back, and he put on a wide smile. “You have to rest in your room or on the couch until you’re almost completely healed.”

Kido turned and looked at the liar with wide eyes. “What? No, no way, it takes around six weeks to-”

She was immediately cut off by the blonde boy. “No arguing. I will handle it.” The smug smile on his face reminded Kido exactly what made her punch him so much. “I will go get some breakfast ready, you want to help Kisaragi?” He asked.

“Yeah, sure! Last I tried to cook everyone rejected my food for some reason, but I will help!” She agreed excitedly.

“See Kido, you’re not the only one who can lead this group.” Kano winked and walked away.

Kido watched as Kano and Momo exited her room. She slightly shook her head and whispered, “Shuuya…” A small smile crept onto her face as she thought about the boy.


	10. Reflection

               The clock ticked away in Kido’s room as she lied silently on her bed. She wasn’t keen on having the rest of the Dan take care of themselves without her. However, she knew that her conditions right now would make it near impossible for her to do anything for the group. She let out a long sigh, before closing her eyes to rest. _Fractured bones usually take six weeks to heal… What am I going to do for these six weeks? Will everyone be okay?_ Questions slowly veiled its ugly head and the leader started to feel a little less confident in letting the rest run the base. _What’s the worse that can happen_ , she thought. As if the two members in the kitchen were able to hear her thoughts, loud screaming came both Momo and Kano.

“Momo don’t put that in!” Kano yelled.

“But it will make everything taste so much better!” Momo yelled back.

“Hey watch out!” the liar continued to scream at the idol.

Kido slowly lifted herself up and sat on the bed. “I should check on them,” she concluded before planting her feet onto the floor and standing up.

As she was about to open the door, a smell of burning hit her nostrils. Realising that this can’t be a good sign, she opened the door urgently. As the door swung open she was greeted by thick dark smoke that was coming out of the kitchen.

“Kano! Look at what you have done! You burnt the omelette!” The idol scolded the liar as she was choking from the smoke.

“Hey, if it’s not for you, wanting to add some stupid red bean paste, this wouldn’t have happened.” Kano retaliated.

“What in the hell are you guys doing?!” Kido yelled, scolding both of them.

She walked towards the kitchen and turned off the flame on the stove. She took a peak at the burnt omelette. The entire egg was charred; it had lost all its original colours and had became a void that sucks in all light from the surrounding.

“Were none of you paying attention to the pan when you were cooking?” the green haired girl asked furiously before drilling her right knuckle into the heads of both Kano and Momo. “You didn’t even turn off the flame after realising it was burnt… How do you expect me to trust you to take care of everyone?” Kido stated before letting herself collapse onto the couch.

“What’s happening? Why is there so much smoke and yelling?” A voice came from their left.

Shintaro sleepily walked out of his room with his phone in hand. Dark circles were still very visible from underneath his eyes.

Momo scratched her head in embarrassment and greeted her brother, “Good morning brother… I was just helping Kano with cooking and…”

Suddenly the jersey wearing teen widened his eyes. “You’re cooking… Tell me you’re just kidding… Last time you cooked instant ramen and neared killed me.” He stated.

“I wasn’t sure if the soup as flavorful enough.” Momo chuckled nervously as she replied.

“Adding an entire tube of wasabi is not called adding flavor… I’m just going to order some food online.” Shintaro said while walking back towards his room, which was also the storage space.

“Brother! Where are you going? Don’t you have somewhere to go to right now instead of your room…” Momo asked with anger in her voice.

Suddenly Shintaro remembered. He had to go to where he dreaded the most. “Yeah, the therapist… I know… Let me just get myself cleaned up...” He walked towards the bathroom and locked the door behind him.

_Therapist…_ He wasn’t looking forward for this. Ever since the day at the hospital, both Ene and his sister had been pestering him about going to the therapist. Ene had even taken upon herself to book an appointment for him. However every appointment seemed to go the same way.

_“Tell me about these nightmares.”_

_“I see, I conclude that…”_

_“Here’s some medicine…”_

_“Interesting…”_

“None of them actually care… It’s all just about the damn money…” He commented.

Shintaro turned on the tap for the sink and splashed water onto his face. The cool liquid felt relaxing to him. He filled up the sink with water and dunked his head into the basin. As the sound of the clear liquid rang in his eyes he saw them again. He saw parts of the nightmare he had last night.

A shadow fell from the window next to him.He turned. The figure continued to fly past him at great speed. What a familiar figure. Long hair with a ponytail on the side, wearing a pink hoodie. Too familiar.

“Momo!” He screamed as he raised his head out of the Basin.

A knock suddenly came from the door.

“Brother, are you okay in there? You called my name...” The idol asked from the living room.

“Huh? Ah, yeah don’t worry… Everything is fine…”

Lies had become fairly common for the teen. Everyday he would get back from the therapist, “How was the session?” “Good.” Every morning when he exit his room or wake up in his bed sweating, “Did you have another nightmare?” “No, don’t worry.” Shintaro turned to look at himself in the mirror. He stared at his reflection. He knew how much pain he was going through, but he wasn’t about to let the people who care about him to find out. He forced a smile onto his face, and said to himself, “Everything will be fine.”

_“Liar,”_ The reflection replied.

“Tch, like you know anything…” He commented.

_“How wouldn’t I know, I’m you. Do you really think lying helps?”_ The reflection asked.

“As long as the people around me are happy, I will be fine.” Shintaro replied.

“ _More lies. Even lying to yourself, didn’t think you would fall this far Mr. Kisaragi._ ”

“Shut up,” the jersey wearing teen replied.

_“Hehe… You’re telling something that doesn’t exist to shut up…”_

“Ugh, what do you want?” the teen asked, annoyed.

_“Well, if you want the pain to go away, you know what to do, right?”_

“Yes, but I’m not gonna do it, so just shut up.” The boy replied.

_“Come on just try it, the pain will stop with it…”_ Shintaro looked down on the water basin and saw a razor.

“No,” He replied.

_“Do it.”_

“No.”

_“Do. It.”_

“Shut up!”

_“Loser.”_

“I said shut up!” Shintaro punched the mirror out of frustration. The mirror shattered into small pieces. The teen breathed heavily, and pulled back his fist, and placed it on the edge of the basin. Blood dripped from his knuckles into the sink and flowed down the drain. Suddenly he heard knocking from outside of the door.

“Open up Shintaro!” A male voice called out. It was Kano’s voice.

The lock clicked and the door opened. The broken down teen was greeted by a worried look from all in the living room. He also felt slight vibration from his phone.

“Uh… Why do you guys look so worried?” Without any warning, Momo leapt into her brother’s arms and cried. “Hey Momo, what’s wrong?” He asked.

“Ene told us everything that happened in the bathroom.” Kido replied for the rest of the group, “We could also hear the shouting from here.” The leader of the group was sitting on the couch due to the demands from Kano and Momo.

“I see… I will be better soon, Momo, I promise.”

“Yikes, that’s seven years of bad luck.” Kano commented, loosening up the tension in the room.

“Yeah, well I better get going… Here, you can have Ene with you today. I felt like it’s best if I go alone.” Shintaro announced and handed his phone to Momo.

“But you always bring her along,” his sister started.

“Yeah, but sometimes a little lone time wouldn’t hurt.” He replied and headed out of the door.

_I hope he really will get better soon_ , the idol thought.


	11. Beginning

          Shintaro hadn’t been by himself for a very long time. Ever since the arrival of Ene, he had never had a day by himself. He looked up at the bright sky and closed his eyes, he felt slight breeze brushing past his face. The breeze was warm but not overwhelmingly hot. The blazing summer had officially come to a stop and the autumn wind blew past the city. The air was smooth and fresh, unlike the humid air that made breathing a hard work. The jersey wearing teen opened up his eyes and walked to an intersection. The streets were still crowded with people as per usual, which made Shintaro wince. However, the therapist that the virtual enigma had booked an appointment to was not too far from the base.

“Two intersections after the base and turn right…” He repeated the direction to himself.

As he walked past the first intersection he felt a sharp glaze locked onto him. He turned to search for the source but it was already gone. _Maybe it’s my imagination_ , he thought, brushing off the glaze.

        “I’m really worried about master…” Ene stated.

Back in the base the members who were awake were discussing the episode with Shintaro. Ene, still on her master’s phone, was placed in the center of the table on speaker. Her voice was shaky from the breakdown that her master went through. “The therapy isn’t helping him at all. Every night he would still wake up with a loud scream or beads of sweat dropping from his forehead.” She continued.

“Has he ever told you want some of the dreams were about?” Kido asked calmly, trying to gather as much information as possible.

“He hadn’t told me what the recent nightmares were about, but when he first started to have the nightmares he said he would watch all of the members of the Mekakushi Dan die. Sometimes he would kill some, sometimes he would be killed before witnessing all the deaths.” Ene replied with worriedness in her tone.

“Do you think it has to do with the “eyes”?” Kano asked Kido.

“Maybe. If it is the case of his eye ability, we need to find a way for him to control it fast. Having continuous nightmares like this couldn’t be good for his mental state.” Kido responded with her hand on her chin.

“Maybe I can help my brother control his ability.” Momo suggested.

“No, we can’t be so rash. We don’t have evidence that it is the doing of an eye ability yet.” The green haired girl shut down the idea.

The group sat in silence as they tried to think of a rational and calm approach to this topic. A sound of a door opening can be heard from behind them. However, it only creaked open slightly; showing a figure with long, white hair standing in the gap between the doorframe and the door.

A trembling voice came from the figure, “Is there a stranger in the house?” She asked.

The entire room was filled with confusion. They wondered what had made Marry come to that conclusion. Suddenly, Kano realized what she meant by stranger.

“Marry, that’s not a stranger you know… That’s just the boss.” He answered.

Marry, wide eyed, pushed open the door with full force. “Boss? Kido? You’re back!”

The medusa ran forward towards the couch, only to trip over her own foot and falling face first to the ground.

“Hey… Marry… you don’t need to be this excited you know…” the liar commented waving both hands in front of him.

As the innocent girl got back up to her feet she went to tackled the leader of the group. As she leapt towards Kido, it was as if time had slowed down. The gang wanted to warn Marry, but it was too late. Before the words, “Marry, don’t” can come out of any of the three’s mouths, the medusa had already pounced onto the green haired girl. As the medusa landed on Kido, she felt pain coursing through her chest.

“Commander, are you okay?” Momo asked, concerned, as she ran towards her leader.

A wince and a grunt later, Kido responded, “Yeah, I’m fine…”

The idol pulled Marry off and scolded, “You have to be more careful, commander still need time to recover from her injuries.”

As soon as Momo finished her sentence, the white haired figure started crying. “I’m sorry I didn’t mean to. I was just too excited seeing her back…”

The idol didn’t know how to respond. She wasn’t trying to be hurtful. She quickly put her hand on the medusa’s shoulder and attempted to calm her down.

“I didn’t mean to sound like I was yelling or anything. I’m sorry, Marry. Don’t cry…” She said as she rubbed the back of her head.

         “I see, tell me more…” The therapist went on.

Shintaro could’ve cared less for what the therapist had to ask or say. Every second he spent in the tiny consultation room felt like eternity. He knew that his nightmares had less to do with his mental state and trauma and more with something else. He couldn’t quite put his finger on what was causing all the nightmares but he knew it had to be something else. As Shintaro’s brain go on autopilot and blabbed out sequences of sentences, his mind had drifted to somewhere else. He kept thinking about his nightmares. This wasn’t something that he was keen on thinking about, but he wanted to make sense of everything by himself. Every night he would see all his friends die, sometime more gruesome than others. However there was always one figure that kept killing them. One tall figure who wore black and had pale white skin. As Shintaro tried to remember what the figure look like, he suddenly saw a figure resembling one of his friends. His eyes widened. _Maybe these are premonitions._ He thought. There was one tiny detail that he just couldn’t seem to put his finger on. _Who is that figure? Why did it want to kill everyone?_ He asked himself. He tried to remember every tiny detail about his horrified dreams to search for an answer, but it was to no avail. These questions had subconsciously become a main goal for Shintaro. For once he wanted to go to sleep. He needed answers, and the only way to find them is through his night terrors.

         As the rest of the members in the living room chatted on about Kido’s injuries, a sleepy Konoha walked out of Seto’s room.

“Good morning…” He greeted, in the same shy voice as always, “Oh, Kido, you’re out of the hospital…” He commented with little emotion but he flashed a sincere smile, happy that his friend is out of the hospital.

“We should celebrate,” Momo suddenly suggested.

“What for?” Kido asked, fully aware of what the idol wanted to celebrate. However she wasn’t keen on the idea.

“Your release commander!” the idol replied. A shiver ran down Kano’s back. He remembered what he had dreamt about last night. He could feel cold sweat forming on his forehead.

“Uhh, I think Kido needs some time to rest before we go. You know, with her conditions right now, and all, I don’t think she can do much.” Kano responded nervously.

Noticing how the blonde boy reacted, Kido asked, “Are feeling well, Kano? You don’t look so good right now.”

“Me? I’m fine. Great.” The liar put up his usual disguise. “How about when she gets better?” He suggested.

“You’re no fun Kano…” Momo angrily stared at the liar.

“We do still need to head out today.” The leader started.

“What for?” A paranoid Kano asked.

“We need to replace that mirror.” Kido answered with a calm and with a straightforward answer while pointing to the shattered mirror.

“Also maybe a change of outfit for the leader,” Ene pointed out, showing a photo she secretly took of Kido.

The green haired girl looked down at the damaged clothes. There was a tear in the fabric from where the knife entered her body as well as bloodstains from both the stabbing and the blood she had spat out during the beating. She didn’t want to give it away however, it was the only piece of memory she had of Ayano and her family.

Kano, realising that leader didn’t want to give away the hoodie, intervened, “Or we can just wash this one and stitch it back up.”

“No, you can’t just stitch it back up, the fabric’s torn. Even if you do, it will look ugly and out of place.” Ene shut the idea down.

“But, she had had this hoodie for a very long time, and it was a gift from our adopted mother. You can’t just throw this away.” Kano added.

“It’s fine, Kano.” The leader stopped the liar from continuing. “Let’s head to the mall then.” She concluded.

“But leader you need to heal,” Marry advised.

“I will be fine.” Kido rejected.

As she slowly got up from the couch, a sharp pain ran through her entire body, forcing her to sit.

“You need to heal, leader. I can stay with you if you want!” Marry offered.

Kido smiled at the gesture but waved it off. “No, go to the mall with rest, maybe you could buy something for Seto.”

“But-” Marry determined to take care of their leader was interrupted by Momo dragging her away from the couch and out of the door. She let out a tiny scream before exiting the room.

“You too, Konoha, you can go with them too.” Kido commanded.

“No, I will stay with you, just in case of anything bad happens.” He stated and watched the gang leave the house.

Outside of the house, a crow resting on a tree branch watched on, monitoring the action of the Mekakushi Dan. It cried and flew away with its red eyes glimmering under sunlight.

         “I think that will be it today Kisaragi. I will see you next time?” The therapist ended the session.

“Yeah, yeah… I’m going.” The teen responded.

All Shintaro could think of is to find answers to his questions. He wanted to go back to the base, lay on his bed and sleep. Nothing ever seemed to go his way though. The tiny therapist room had a window facing directly to a shopping mall. As he looked outside of it, he saw crowds gathering in front of it with police and swat teams around the area.

“Another terrorist attack?” Just as he finished his thought, an explosion could be heard and seen from the fifth story of the shopping mall.

Shintaro suddenly was bombarded with memories of the encounters he had on the day he met the Mekakushi Dan. He quickly turned away from the window and ran out of the door towards the mall.


	12. Attack

            “What you do that for, I have to take care of the leader!” Marry asked, angrily puffing up her cheeks at the idol.

“I know, but there’s a reason commander told you to go out with us.” Momo replied.

Ever since joining the Mekakushi Dan, the pop idol had been listening to every command given by Kido. She took these orders as if their lives were on the line. At least that’s she wanted to say was the excuse for why she had dragged out Marry from the house, but it wasn’t. The truth is she wanted Kido to be safe. With Marry’s carelessness, she didn’t know what would have happened if she had stayed.

“Hmph.” The medusa made a noise of disapproval before putting on her boots and walking away.

As the four members of the Mekakushi Dan walked towards the mall, Momo couldn’t help but noticed the location Shintaro went to for his therapy session. It wasn’t far from the mall; in fact she bet he could see them out of the window. As they entered the mall, they were awed by how many people there were.

“What day is it today? Why are there so many people?” Kano asked Ene, who was inside of the pocket of his jacket.

“Well, it is a Sunday, also there seem to be a sale going on.” The blue haired girl responded.

“I see… But anyways, let’s head to the mirror section!” He announced excited. As he scanned his surroundings, trying to find the mirror section, he saw a rather peculiar poster. He turned around and whispered into Marry’s ears. “I heard Seto really enjoys… Those sorts of things… Since everything is on sale, you want to get that for him?”

The liar pointed to a poster with a female waitress with cat ears and a black and white French maid outfit that was rather revealing. Instantly, the medusa’s cheek lit up with pink. She immediately covered her face with her hands and looked away. Momo, who overheard what Kano had said, drilled her fist onto the top of his head, before smiling at Marry and comforted her.

“Marry, don’t worry, Seto isn’t actually into… whatever Kano was telling you about. Here how about we go to the clothing section and buy him another pair of jumpsuit?” She suggested, before pulling Marry towards the elevator.

“Tch, they are really alike huh?” The liar commented before walking towards the furniture section of the mall.

            “Hmmm, this looks like a nice mirror doesn’t it?” Kano asked Ene and held up the camera on the phone to show her the design. It was a plain looking circular mirror.

Ene examined it for a few seconds before asking, “Do you think it might be too small?”

She wasn’t wrong. The mirror that the liar had chosen was about half the size the one Shintaro broke.

“You’re right… How about this one then?” He asked pointing to another mirror.

This one being much more fancy than the last. This mirror had a metal rim that resembled vines with the center decoration being a rose flower.

“Marry will probably like this one,” Ene concluded, then she saw the price tag. “Maybe too expensive…”

“You’re picky, Ene.” The blonde boy remarked. “Hey it’s important to choose something that’s of good quality but also within the budget that we could afford.” She stated plainly.

“I really liked this one too… Do you think if I disguised as a millionaire everything will be-”His speech was interrupted by the sound of an explosion from one of the floors above them.

“What the hell was – Marry and Kisaragi!” Kano suddenly realized that his friends might be in danger and ran as fast as he towards the staircase.

          “Hey don’t worry about what that jerk said,” Momo made a remark about Kano, before turning her glaze towards Marry.

“Let’s find the best jumpsuit we could for Seto, and a new hoodie for commander!” She clapped her hands together and declared.

The medusa, surprised by the sudden energy, stumbled back a little, before replying with a nod. As the two walked through the men’s clothing area, Marry set her eyes on an overall that she thought Seto might like. She was staring at it for minutes.

“Hey, Marry are you okay?” Momo asked, confused in why was Marry only staring at the clothes.

“I like this one…I don’t know Seto’s size though…” Marry finally replied.

The idol nearly fainted from the answer. _You don’t just stare at it when you don’t know the size_ , Momo thought. “Oh, well he is very tall, so maybe an L or an XL would probably fit him.” She responded.

The overall the medusa chose was a good choice. The overall is a dark shade of green and slightly baggy, something she could imagine Seto wearing outside of his jumpsuit. The idol was surprised at how well Marry was able to pick a piece of clothing for Seto but the surprise instantly turned into another moment in which Momo wanted to slap herself for. Mary was crouched near the shelf, pouting with both sizes in her hands. She seemed as she was whispering something while looking back and forth at the two sizes.

“Just choose one Marry!” Momo yelled out.

“This one,” She held up the chosen size high up in the air.

Just as she stood up a loud bang sent both teens flying to the ground. A wall near them had been blown away and people dressed in military gears came rushing into the section, shooting customers and staff members. As the idol slowly got up from the ground, she saw Marry near the shelf holding her chosen overalls. She was crying and panicking at the sight of the bloodshed. The orange haired girl quickly ran to her side and held the medusa’s hands.

“Everything is going to be-” Before Momo could finish the sentence, her vision faded to black.

            As Shintaro stood in the crowd in front of the mall, he reached into his pocket and tried to call the Dan. However, when he tried to grab his phone he realized that it wasn’t there. Then he remembered, he had given his phone to his sister in the morning. _Out of all the days…_ He thought. The only thing he can hope for now is that none of the members of the Dan was in the mall.

            Momo slowly opened her eyes. She could feel a throbbing pain on the side of her head. She let a small grunt, and looked around her. There were people everywhere. Everyone was tied up and kept one part of the mall. _We’re the hostages._ She thought. Suddenly negative thoughts filled her mind. _I’m gonna die here… I’m gonna die without saying goodbye to anyone… I’m gonna die alone._ Then she remembered that she wasn’t alone. Marry was with her when the terrorists entered the building.

“Where is she?” the idol whispered as she looked around, a ray of hope surged through her.

As she scanned her surroundings, she saw a girl dressed in a blue and white coloured maid outfit with long silky white hair. _There she is_. Momo was determined to get to the distressed girl. However, she needed to do it without drawing any attention. As she slowly shimmied in the crowd towards Marry, she bumped into another hostage. The man made a shocked remark before moving slightly to get out of her way. A terrorist noticed this and suddenly fired at the man. Blood poured from his forehead. In an instant the whole floor erupted into cries of help and distress, including Momo.

“Shut up!” The terrorist shouted out. “That’s what happens if I see even one of you start moving. Anyone who tries to run, call anyone, or fight back will get the same treatment as him. Now everything will go smoothly as long as you just quiet and still. We’re here only for the money, but we will kill you if you oppose as a threat.”

Momo who was still in shock from the man in front her slowly felt guilt creeping up behind her. It was her fault that he died. She wanted to say something but was too scared to do so.

The man reached out a walky-talky from his pocket; he commanded the rest of his men to stay guard. “We’ve taken this place hostage, if you do anything rash, we will kill every everyone on this floor. We have more bombs planted in the building, and we will blow this place up if our demands are not met in the next hour. I want two hundred thousand dollars in cash placed in a sack and an escape van that can fit six people. You better hand in the requests on time officers, your time had already started.”

As he finished his villainous speech, he heard a loud continuous cry coming from one member of the crowd. He scanned around and saw a white haired teen, sobbing and weeping.

“What part of shut up, did you not get?” He asked as he walked towards her. He lifted her up by her hair, and she screamed in pain. He brought the medusa to the front of the crowd and pointed a pistol towards her head.

“As I said, anyone who violates my rules will get-” He was cut off by a slow clap from the stairway.

“That was funny, you have no idea how to be a criminal do you?” A man, wearing a two faced black and white mask walked out of the corner with his hands held high up.

“I’m not trying to interrupt, but as a fellow criminal, your requests are childish at best.”

“What do you mean? I will shoot if move one step closer.” The terrorist leader threatened.

The man with the mask pulled open his short sleeved hoodie to reveal a sawed off shotgun with shells attached to the inner linings as well as a Kevlar vest. “Not a good idea,” He stated.

“Now just put the girl down, and I will teach you how to be a better criminal.”

Momo watched the verbal exchange happen right in front her. Sometimes she was baffled at how good Kano’s acting was. The blonde teen, with his eyes red, fooled everyone in the room except for the idol and the medusa.

“Ha, you really think I would give her away this easily?” The terrorist’s grip on Marry tightened and so did his finger on the trigger of the pistol. “Say goodbye to the girl.” He stated.

Momo who was never the bravest suddenly had a rush of energy pumping through her body. _I have to save Marry._ She thought, filling with determination. The idol stood up and charged at the leader. The tackle made him fall onto the ground, releasing his grip on both the medusa and the gun. The rest of the members saw this and raised their weapon to shoot at the idol. However this was stopped when a loud screaming entered their earpieces.

“Hey idiots! Maybe next time don’t put your headset controller in a place so obvious that a kid can get to.” Ene yelled into their headset, “Now time for real torture.” She stated.

Suddenly a loud obnoxious ringing could be heard from the headsets, making them all nauseous. They fell to the ground from the nausea and some of them began vomiting.

“Are you okay?” Momo asked the medusa.

Marry gave a small nod to signify her condition. The idol held onto the medusa’s arms and lifted her up from the ground. The two smiled at each other with sincerity. The peacefulness didn’t last forever however. A fist suddenly emerged out of nowhere and made contact with Momo’s cheek, which sent her crashing to the floor. The expression on Marry’s face turned from hopeful to horror as she witness the punch. She screamed and kneeled onto the floor.

“You little bitch, you and your friends are all dead…” The terrorist threatened as he got up from the floor.

He tried to reach for the pistol in his holster, but it wasn’t there. He looked around and saw his pistol lying on the floor next to a nauseated goon. Kano, who was trying to help free other hostages, noticed the commotion and saw the terrorist running for the gun. He dropped everything that he was doing and ran towards the same direction. He ran as fast as he could, but it was too late. The gunman raised his pistol towards the idol and placed his finger on the trigger. As Momo slowly got up onto her kneels, he put on an evil grin and fired the gun. The bullet travelled in the air with great speed. The pop idol felt a force struck her on the side. The force was so powerful that it made her tumble to the ground. As she raised her head, she saw a body lying on top of her.

“Kano?” She asked, surprised by his presence.

He got back on his feet, but didn’t respond back. He held onto his side tightly. Momo could see blood seeping from his side. He slightly stumbled as he stood in front the idol. “Well if you want to die this badly…” the terrorist said as he was pushing down the trigger of the gun. However, suddenly, the boy in front of him was no longer there. Instead he was replaced by a fierce animal. Shocked at what he was seeing, he froze in place.

“Huh? What? How?” He started to ask.

This gave the perfect window for Kano to tackle to man onto the floor. As he pounced towards the gunman, it appeared as if the ferocious animal had leapt onto the terrorist.

“Marry!” He yelled, trying to pin the man down.

Hearing her named being shouted out made her snap out of her trance, she ran in front him and faced the in entire crowd and terrorist group. Momo, realising, what was about to happen, used her ability to help with the plan. She sprinted towards Marry and stood next to her. Her eyes turned red as she faced the crowd.

“My name is Momo Kisaragi, I’m sixteen years old, and I’m a pop idol!” She yelled out to the crowd and posed in front of them.

As she finished her sentence, the medusa’s eyes flashed into blood red and froze everyone in place. As everyone froze, Kano breathed a heavy sigh and released his grip on the man he tackled. He slowly stood up, but he was feeling light-headed. His body started to collapse, but Momo caught him.

“Kano, are you going to be okay?” She asked concerned with the liar’s condition.

“I’ll be fine, let’s just head to the base first.”

As they walked down from the fifth floor to the ground floor, they saw a radio system with Shintaro’s phone attached to it.

“Took you guys long enough,” Ene remarked.

Marry unplugged the phone and held it in her hand. “Thank you!” She gestured as she bowed at the phone.

“Eh…?” The virtual teen didn’t know how to react. “Umm, you’re welcome?” She finally answered.

“Actually, before we go, can you connect to the police radio with this?” Kano asked.

“Yeah I can, you want me to tell them to storm in?” Ene responded with a question.

“Yeah.” The liar answered.

“Can you plug me back in, Marry?” The medusa nodded and quickly connected the phone to the speaker.

            Shintaro was still standing in front of the mall, witnessing the commotion. The police hadn’t been able to contact the terrorist group for a while now. He overheard them talking about a radio jammer. _Why would they turn on a radio jammer, if they wanted to negotiate?_ He asked himself. As if the universe heard his inner thought, a familiar voice came out of the radio system from every law enforcement vehicle at the same time.

“Hi, it doesn’t matter who I am, but the coast is clear, the terrorists are down, so you might want to head up there now before they blow up the building.”

“Ene,” The jersey wearing teen whispered.

He quickly backed up from the crowd and tried to find another entrance to the mall. _Where could another entrance be?_ He asked himself, before noticing a metro station. He quickly made a turn and dashed for the entrance of the station.

            As the four made their way down to the metro entrance of the mall, they realized that it was sealed by a metal slide door.

“Now what?” Momo asked, still supporting Kano.

“There must be a control panel somewhere.” Ene concluded. When she finished her sentence, the group noticed that the metal sheet was slowly lifting. On the other side stood a tall figure. He ducked under the door and confronted the group.

“You guys are all safe…” He said.

“Brother!” Momo yelled out in excitement.

“Hey, Shintaro…” Kano was able to speak out as he raised his blood soaked hand and waved.

Noticing this, Shintaro quickly walked up to him and lend a shoulder for him to lean on.

“Momo, I can carry, him. Let’s head back.” He commanded the rest.


	13. Red

            Kido and Konoha were both sitting in the living room waiting for the four members to return. However, it had been hours since they had gone out, and yet they still hadn’t showed up. The leader of the Mekakushi Dan was getting a little worried and impatient. She uncrossed her legs and took out the earphones from her ears.

“Where the hell are they?” She asked in an angry tone.

Konoha noticing the worriedness in Kido’s voice gave a reassuring answer. “Maybe they are just having a bit of a difficult time finding a mirror.”

As he finished his sentence the leader let out a small sigh, before slowly and carefully standing up from the couch. “I’m going to go change,” she announced.

She walked towards her room and reached for the doorknob when suddenly the entrance was kicked open by the pop idol.

“Commander, Konoha, you have to help Kano!” She yelled while panting.

As Shintaro slowly carried the liar into the living room, a large visible bloodstain could be seen from his left side.

“Kano!” the green haired girl cried out before dashing to help Shintaro move the injured teen.

“Oh hey, Kido… Sorry we didn’t get a mirror, or a new hoodie…” The liar greeted.

His face was more pale than usual and he had sweat beads across his forehead. Kido allowed him to collapse slightly onto her. She used her right hand to bring his right arm over her shoulders and with Shintaro’s help carried him into his room.

“How this even happen, idiot?” She scolded as they lay him down onto his bed.

“Trying to be a hero…” He responded.

The green haired girl heard this and couldn’t help but feel a little happy on the inside. The memories of the family who adopted them were still fresh in their minds. She slowly lifted up his shirt with her working arm, and saw where the bullet had penetrated him.

“Woo… If you want to see me shirtless that badly… Why don’t you just-” A slap on the face stopped Kano from continuing.

“You should be thankful that you hadn’t bled out yet, don’t make stupid remarks like that.” Kido scolded. As she examine the wound, she commented, “You got lucky… Missed any vital organ or blood vessels.”

She called out to Konoha who was in the living and asked him to get her a first aid kit. The white haired teen handed the medical kit to the leader before telling her, “If you need an assistance, I will be outside.”

“Thanks, Konoha.” She gestured.

Kido opened up the kit and took out a piece of gauze before soaking it in disinfectants. She looked at the liar before placing the gauze onto his wound. By the time Konoha had came into the room, he was already fading in and out of consciousness. However, the surge of pain from the cleaning alcohol made his adrenaline running. He screamed at the top of his lungs and flinched at the pain.

“Stay still.” The leader coldly commanded.

As she gently cleaned up his wound, the hole in which the bullet had entered was clearer. However, there was still blood oozing out of the entrance. Kido held the gauze at place with force, trying to stop the bleeding. Seeing Kano injured again was not easy for the green haired girl. She started to wonder if she should monitor the liar more. After all, she didn’t want to lose him. A strange silence interrupted her train of thought. Kido noticed that the blonde teen hadn’t made any remarks for a while and checked if he was still conscious.

“Kano, can you hear me?” She asked.

There was no response from him.

“Hey, Kano!” She tried again this time louder.

Still no response.

She noticed the sweat on his forehead had worsened and his eyes were flickering. She applied more force onto the wound to stop the continuously gushing of blood.

“Kano?” She asked.

The teen wasn’t moving, his eyes were closed and his chest looked still. Kido started to worry. “Shuuya!” She shouted, but to no avail. “Don’t you dare die…” She ordered.

The teen’s body had completely stopped moving. Tears slowly well in the green haired girl’s eyes. She looked at the gauze she was holding. The white cloth had been tainted with red, and the wound still didn’t look as if it was going to stop bleeding.

“Shuuya?” Kido asked with her voice trembling.

She didn’t want to imagine her worst nightmare coming true. She shook his body slightly, but there was still no response. As she shook him, she noticed that his body felt limp.

“No…” She whispered quickly. “Wake up!” She shouted, slapping the boy across his cheek.

Tears now welled up in Kido’s eyes. She realised that the boy in front her had left this world.

“You idiot! Why did you have to be a hero?” She chastised. “Why did you have to constantly get yourself into trouble! God damn it… I don’t want to lose you too…” As streams of tears fell from her face, they made contact with Kano’s skin. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to protect you...” The green haired girl cried before laying her head next to his. “Please… Please come back…” She pleaded

“Okay.” A voice projected from besides her, startling her in the process. She shot up, and let out a small gasp.

“I can’t believe I get to see you cry over my body.” Kano laughed. The leader, still bewildered by the sight in front her, was staring at him with a puzzled expression.

“Aww I guess someone did care for me after all. I knew under those venomous words were loving care…” He teased, “You’re cute when you’re sad and crying.” He stated.

The green haired girl, still had tear trails across her face, suddenly realized that the liar had tricked her and fell for his ability. Anger slowly crawled up behind the girl.

“Man, laying your head this close to me really makes me flustered- Hey Kido, you okay?” The boy stopped talking as he saw Kido’s right fist clench up. “Hey, I didn’t mean to-”

            The rest of the gang was sitting outside in the living room. They had heard the screams from Kido and were ready to receive the unfortunate news. However moments later, another scream could be heard from within the room. This one oddly sounded like Kano. The scream slowly turned into shrieks and yelps of pain. From the noises that came from the room, the group was able to deduct what had happened and could only pray that Kano wouldn’t be killed by the furious leader. As the door clicked open, they all sat still with their mouths wide open. They were surprised to see Kido’s knuckles being bright red, and Kano looked as he had just been beaten up by a professional MMA fighter.

“Did Kano look more injured now than just then or is that just me,” Ene made an off-hand remark, which the rest of the Mekakushi Dan replied with silent but fast nods.

“I’m going to go rest in my room.” Kido announced before storming off, and slamming the door close behind her.


	14. Past

         As the gang gazed on at the beat up Kano, a pink-eyed figure picked up the cell phone that was lying on top of the table and left to an empty room.

“Why did you take us to you and Seto’s room?” Ene asked.

“I just wanted to talk.” Konoha responded.

He didn’t directly look at Takane when he had said this. His facial expression looked puzzled and confused.

Noticing his features, the girl in the phone asked, “Is everything okay?”

She seemed worried about him. Konoha gently laid the phone onto the bed and sat next to it.

“I don’t know if I remembered more or if it was just a dream…” He started.

Takane looked at him with intrigue. She wanted to find out what is this piece of memory that had been troubling him.

“I saw you lying on a bed… A very odd looking bed with wires attached to it. You also had some wires on you. I was in a tank I think… I remember it been somewhat of a water tank, but Mr. Tateyama was there, and he was pressing many buttons. Then I felt like I was in pain? I don’t quite remember.” He finished.

Takane was shocked by what he had just said. She couldn’t tell if what he said was a dream merging with reality. She had a piece of memory that reflected this event as well. She remembered questioning if whether she was dead or not before being transferred into the digital world. Takane slowly opened her mouth to signify that she wanted to say something, but stopped herself. She didn’t want to cause even more trouble for the white haired teen. Konoha on the other hand slowly and gently stroked his right forearm, shyly looking away thinking that he must have sounded like a lunatic.

“I’m sorry, if that never happened… I shouldn’t have troubled you.” He apologized.

“No, don’t…” Takane tried to comfort him.

She wanted to tell him so badly that it really did happen, but she even had trouble convincing herself if that memory was true or not. Deciding it is probably for the best to keep quiet about it, the virtual human tried switching the topic,

“Anyways, don’t you think Kido and Kano are pretty cute together? One constantly criticizing the other, while the other just takes them with a smile…”

As she finished her sentence she realized how much their friendship reminded her of them. She suddenly remembered how she would always scold and yell at Haruka for his incompetence, but how he always took everything with a gentle smile on his face. Remembering such memory made the now digital Takane feel joy, but at the same time made her melancholic. “If only we can go back to that…” She whispered to herself, unaware she had said it out loud.

“What did you say Takane?” Konoha asked. “Hmm? Oh, nothing… Just memories.” Takane responded before sitting down on a virtual platform. Her head draped downwards and her legs swung back and forth. She was smiling, but Konoha could sense hints of sadness.

“Takane? Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yeah…” a simple response was all he got.

Thinking about the two younger teens made her think about her love towards Haruka. It had been two years, yet she still loved him. For the past two years, she had had him on her mind constantly. _Wouldn’t it be great to see Haruka again?_ She often thought to herself. She wanted to confess her feelings towards him before any of the chaos began, but never got the chance. Now, the chance to confess had been long gone. He couldn’t remember who she was, or who he was, saying those three words now felt almost empty. Takane bottled up her feelings inside of her before looking up at the boy. She suddenly noticed the worried look on his face. Confused and unaware of the situation, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

Before the teen could answer her question, she felt liquid pouring out of her eyes. She touched her cheeks felt a stream of wet tears pouring down her face.

“Takane? Please tell me what is happening.” Konoha insisted.

“It’s really nothing.” She answered, feeling a little hypocritical, as she was the one who told Shintaro not to lie.

 _What’s the point now? He doesn’t even remember…_ She thought.

“Takane, you might not trust me because I don’t remember who I was or because how we were in the past, but I want to tell you that I still care about you…” Haruka suddenly blurted out. “I will always want to make you happy.” He finished and smiled.

That smile, the same gentle smile that Haruka gave her. The caring words and straightforwardness reminded Takane that he was still the same person. At this moment, the silent tears became a cry.

“Why do you always have to be such an idiot! Why do you care for someone who was responsible for… This!” She yelled out as she cried. “You always cared for me… What have I ever done for you in return to deserve this?”

Haruka’s smile remained. He held the phone against his chest as if he was hugging the troubled one.

“Takane,” He whispered with a kind voice. “Don’t say that. You’re kind person… Please don’t think of yourself differently.” He asked of her.

The blue haired girl cried even more. She had wanted him to come back, and she got her wish. Before this day, she never felt as if she had been reunited with her love. To her, Konoha felt like some stranger. A stranger that happened to look exactly like her friend, but still a stranger. She knew how selfish that thought process was and now it was all coming back to her. She cursed herself for being stupid enough to think that they are different. _They are the same,_ she told herself. Takane hadn’t felt so human for a long time. She felt as she was embracing the black haired teen and crying into his chest. She felt his warmth rub off onto her, and his arm around her waist. This was an embrace she wanted to last forever.

“I love you, Haruka Kokonose…” She muttered under her breath.

Haruka, who was still lying on the bed, slowly sat up. The girl wasn’t able to tell if he had heard her say the words or not, but she didn’t want to know. All she knew was she had said something that she had wanted to say for two years.

“Come on, let’s head back to the living room, I’m sure everyone is finished awing at Kano.” Haruka suggested, before picking up the phone and walked to the living room.

As Ene was carried in the hands of Konoha, she couldn’t help but smile. _Maybe everything will be better from now on…_ She wished.


	15. Home

            Seto’s work never had been an easy one. However, with the weight of being the temporary leader on his shoulder it made it harder for the teen. He had already been scolded by his boss twice today for misplacing catalogued items of the shop. He let out a long sigh as he flipped the board on the door to “closed”. As he turned around to turn off the lights of the shop, his boss approached him.

“You’ve been messing up a lot recently. Is there something wrong?” He asked.

The boss wasn’t a terrible person. He was nice and gentle normally. However he wasn’t someone that accepted mistakes, especially coming from Seto. In his eyes, Seto was maybe the best employee he had ever had. The teen had put up genuine smiles towards every customer, even those who were unreasonable. He also worked hard every day. He would come in before the sun rises and end when the night had long dawned upon the Earth’s surface. For someone like him to make simple mistakes felt almost infuriating.

“Oh, nothing much, just some family business…” The jumpsuit teen responded with a nervous laugh.

“Listen, if you want to take some day off it’s fine. I will just call in Nakamura for replacement.” His boss suggested.

“No, I will be fine I promise.” The teen immediately responded.

            As he left the little shop, he put on his hood and stuck his hands into his pockets. His posture almost mimicked one of Kido. He walked down the street that he normally went down. Tonight was more peaceful than most other nights. The streets weren’t filled with people in their business attires or filled with the putrid smell of alcohol and barbeque. As Seto crossed an intersection he took a left turn into a small alleyway. This alleyway is a shortcut that the teen always took to get back to the base. However, this small little passage didn’t look like something anyone would walk down. The road was narrow and dark. There were no pedestrian lights and the only way to see was to hope that someone had the light in their apartment on. As Seto continued down the path, he remembered the cat that he often came across with. The cat was small and shy. The first time he had met the little feline was two days after he started using the shortcut. Its fur was white as snow and it had a long, thin tail. _I wonder if I get to see her today_ , Seto wondered. He never really figured out the gender of the cat, but it reminded him of Marry. Just when the jumpsuit wearing teen came to where the cat was normally located, he saw a rather familiar figure. A figure he had not seen for a very long time. His eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the figure.

“Oh hi Seto.” The figure greeted turning to look at him.

“Mr. Tateyama?” Seto asked in awe. Kenjirou Tateyama was the father of the family that adopted him, Kano, and Kido. Ever since Ayano’s death, they hadn’t seen him in a very long time. Happiness rushed over the teen as he smiled.

“It’s been so long! Where have you been?” He asked.

“Oh, still teaching. How’re the rest of the kids?” Tateyama answered with a question.

“Kano is fine, but Kido…” Seto paused, “She was sent to the hospital due to a fight with a local gang.” He stated.

“I’m sorry to hear that… I wish I could visit but work and all…” The man explained.

“No, it’s okay, it’s nice seeing you here! What are you doing here in the first place, I thought the house is the opposite direction?” Seto inquired.

“I never really want to head home nowadays now that everyone is gone. It gets a bit lonely…” Tateyama explained, “Anyways it’s getting late, I better get going now, you wanna come with me?” He offered to Seto.

“No, I have to get to the rest. I guess I will see you around then?” Seto rejected the offer. As the child walked away, the man stared at him. He let a small grin before heading back to his own house, with his eyes red.

            “I’m home!” Seto announced as he opened the door to the base.

“Welcome back,” A low female voice came from the couch.

The voice hit Seto like a ton of bricks. He thought he was dreaming when he saw Kido lying on the couch. Her attire was different than to her normal clothing. Instead of a hoodie, she was wearing a short-sleeved collared shirt with a red t-shirt underneath.

“Ki…Do… You’re back…” He managed to speak out.

“Yes, Seto I’m back.” Kido announced as she slowly sit up on the couch, making sure she didn’t injure herself any further.

Seto walked into the living room and gave a long embrace to the injured leader.

“I’m so glad you’re okay…” He stated.

“Seto, you’re back!” Marry yelled out from the kitchen. She ran as fast as she could and attempted to hug the jumpsuit wearing teen, but she ended up tripped on her own foot and falling onto the floor.

“Hi, Marry.” He responded after lifting the medusa off the ground. He gave her a small smile before saying, “You need to be more careful.” The white haired girl looked flustered as he said that.

“Mmm…” She nodded for confirmation.

A wider smile appeared on his face as he patted her head. “That’s good to hear.”

“Hi, Seto,” Konoha greeted, suddenly coming from around the corner in his bedroom.

“Oh hey Konoha.” He greeted back. He was glad to get such a warm welcome from everyone, but there was one very important person missing.

“Do you know where Kano is?” He asked Kido.

“His room, asleep last time I checked. He had a rough day today…” The green haired girl responded.

“How come?” Seto asked.

“He was shot on the side when he went to the mall today with Marry and Momo.” Kido replied, “I already cleaned his wound and bandaged him up.”

Seto didn’t know how to respond to what the green haired girl just told him.

“He’s going to be fine right?” He asked with concern in his voice.

“Yeah, he will survive, but we should check on him anyways,” Kido responded.

           As she slowly got up from the couch, Seto helped her to get up on her feet. Once the duo reached the door, the leader put her index finger on her lips to tell the other teen to be quiet. The door slowly creaked open and lit up the room with the light in the living room, they saw a silhouette lying on top of the bed. Kido slowly closed the door behind them and walked up to the blonde figure. Since Kano was facing towards the wall, the leader positioned herself over his body and looked over.

“He’s still asleep…” She announced with a whisper.

As she slowly turned the liar onto his back, she pulled up his shirt and revealed the bullet wound. The gauze had soaked up a bit of blood since the last time she checked on him. She slowly released a small sigh. Seto witnessed the care that his friend displayed and decided to ask her something, “Hey, Kido?”

“Yes?” She responded.

“Do you… Do you ever feel as if Kano is hiding something from you?” He asked. The green haired girl looked at Seto with her head cocked to a side.

“Isn’t he always?” She answered, not fully understanding where the other was leading her.

“No, but more of an elaborate lie.” The jumpsuit-wearing figure added.

“No,” was the answer Kido provided to him. However after freezing in the same position for a few seconds, she looked back at Kano and whispered, “Maybe.”

“I see…” Seto stated before putting a hand on the leader’s shoulder.

“You know, I bumped into Mr. Tateyama today, when I was heading back.”

A shocked expression ran across Kido’s face. “What happened?” She asked.

“Nothing much, he seemed to be doing fine… But I think he’s lonely… Should we go visit him sometimes?” Seto proposed.

“The reason we left him was because we didn’t want him to continue grieving over Ayano. If we go back now, it might cause him to break down again.” The leader replied.

“Yeah, I guess... Maybe we should just leave a gift for him. Like a small insect specimen.” He recommended.

“Yeah sure…” Seto could tell that Kido wasn’t paying much attention to his conversation just then.

His eyes turned red and heard something.

_“Please get better_ ” Kido thought.

The jumpsuit teen didn’t want to use his power most of the time, but he wanted to know what she was thinking about.

“Well that’s enough talking, we should head back to the living room.” He suggested.

“I… I will stay for a bit.” Kido responded. Seto smiled and nodded before heading outside.


	16. Home II

           As Seto exited Kano’s room, he walked towards the couch and sat down. As he peered into the kitchen, he saw Marry and Konoha preparing dinner together. He let a small smile before sinking into the cushions. As he sat there in silence, a yelp caught his attention. He stood up and went into the kitchen. In there he saw Marry holding onto her index finger with blood seeping out of a cut. Konoha was by her side calming her down. There were tears welling up in the medusa’s eyes and her mouth was twitching. Seto quickly went to her side and held onto her arm, dragging her to the sink. He turned on the water to rinse the blood off.

“Konoha, can you make prepare dinner by yourself just while I help Marry with her cut?” the jumpsuit wearing teen asked. The other nodded in silence.

After he took her to the living room, he ran into his room and gathered a bottle of disinfectant, a cotton swab and some bandages. He sat down next to the white haired figure and soaked the cotton swab with the disinfectant, tainting it in purple.

“Hey, Marry, this might hurt a bit, just hold onto my arm tightly when it hurts okay?” Seto offered.

The medusa nodded in response before shutting her eyes tightly preparing herself for the pain. The boy held onto the other’s index finger and gently applied the disinfectant on the cut. As the cotton swab made contact with Marry’s skin, she quickly reached for Seto’s arm and squeezed it with all her might. The jumpsuit wearing teen winced for a moment from the pain in his arm before wrapping her finger in bandage.

“It’s all done!” He announced with a wide smile on his face.

“Thank you…” Marry gestured before noticing a red mark that resembled a hand on his forearm. Realising that she caused it, she quickly apologized, “I’m sorry! I didn’t know I was holding on so tightly!”

“It’s fine, it doesn’t hurt at all.” Seto lied before continuing, “Do you want me to help out with dinner?” He asked. The medusa gave a confirming nod and the two headed back into the kitchen.

“Marry, how’s your finger?” Konoha asked as they stepped into the kitchen.

“Better!” She answered with a slight jump to show her enthusiasm.

“That’s good.” The boy replied with a smile on his face.

“What are you guys making?” Seto asked, wondering what he could do to help.

“We’re making curry for dinner today. Could you help with cutting the potatoes?” Konoha requested.

Without hesitating, the jumpsuit-wearing figure walked to the cutting board and picked up the knife. “Yeah sure, Marry would you kindly help me peel the potatoes, please?” He asked.

The medusa nodded in confirmation and grabbed a peeler from the cupboard. She held it in front of her as if she was holding a sword, with both hands on the handle. After this animated pose, she picked up a potato and slowly started peeling it, bit by bit. After she gave Seto the potatoes, he began cutting. Cooking wasn’t one of his strong suits, but he was confident enough with a knife to cut straight. As he diced the last potato he looked over at Konoha and said, “I’m done.”

“Thank you, you can rest now.” The other replied before going back to cooking the curry.

“Are you sure?” Seto asked.

“Yes…” Konoha responded.

“Well, if you need me to, I will be on the couch.” He announced as he went back out to the living room.

            “So how was the therapy session?” Momo asked her brother.

Shintaro and her sister, as well as Ene were all in his room; they decided to retreat into a quieter place after the commotion with Kano.

“It was okay…” Shintaro replied.

As he expected, it’s always the same question. He was surprised that she hadn’t asked him that earlier. The questions he raised during the therapy session still plagued him. That and the nightmare he had last night. Watching Momo dying in his dreams was never easy for him. He hadn’t witnessed many of them, but every time it happened, it struck him hard. He recalled the day that he almost lost her when they were still children. He waited at the beach for their father to swim back with her safe in his arms, but that never happened. Even after his mother had told him to rest in the car, he would always sneak back out onto the beach, and watch for his father and sister to come back. He remembered the distress and sadness when he saw the waves swallow both his family members. He wanted to jump into the ocean to save them, but he was scared to. He was scared that the waves would take him too. However, he also remembered his relief when Momo was found on the beach alive the next day. It was as if a miracle was blessed upon him, when he woke up in the car, he saw Momo lying right next to him. Then he heard his mother speaking to him, saying that they were heading to the hospital. His happiness and joy was quickly brought down by finding out that his father had died. Every night he would cry in his room into his pillow, making sure Momo couldn’t hear him. Sometimes the pop idol does. She would walk to his brother’s room when she had nightmares. One night, as she placed her hand on the doorknob, she heard distinct crying from her brother. She watched through the crack between the door and doorframe and saw Shintaro bawling into a pillow. She didn’t want to bother him so she quietly walked away. Seeing her brother cry made tears well up in her eyes. She never expected her brother to cry. Even when it came to bullies in school who would criticize her for being stupid and getting ones in class. These bullies were mostly double the size of Shintaro, yet he still defended his sister with no regrets.

Noticing that her brother had zoned out, the pop idol waved her hand in front of his face. “Brother, you there?” She asked.

However, the jersey wearing teen was still lost in his thoughts. The memories of when they were still children quickly morphed into the nightmare. The image of Momo falling off the building replayed in his head like a broken record. He wanted to reach out to grab her, but he wasn’t able to. Every time he relived that dream, he felt guilt and remorse creeping up. He was never in time to save her.

“Momo, I’m sorry…” He let out unintentionally.

The idol heard him and became quiet. From what her brother had said, she realized what was bothering him. She tackled into his brother and they both fell onto the bed, pulling him back into the real world. She embraced him as she lay on top of him with her head resting on her brother’s chest. She could hear his heart pounding. “You don’t have to worry about me brother… I won’t leave you again, I promise.” Momo stated. Shintaro looked at her lying peacefully on his chest and smiled. He didn’t want to say anything in fear of ruining the bonding moment. As the two surrounded themselves with silence, Shintaro’s eye lids started to slowly close, soon he went back into the land of horror.

            Kido was still in Kano’s room, sitting on bed next to the sleeping liar. Her right hand gently stroked the other’s arm as she waited for the boy to wake up. She wondered if this was what he felt when she was unconscious in the hospital. A small twitch came from the liar and Kido quickly retracted her arm. The boy let out a small groan before turning around to see Kido sitting right beside him.

“Hi, Kido…” He greeted sluggishly.

“You should get up now, you have been resting for a long time.” She replied coldly.

“I see you’ve changed your outfit.” Kano commented, “I don’t like it…”

He smirked as he made the remark.

“Are you going to come out of the room or not?” She asked with a frustrated tone.

The truth was that she didn’t like her current outfit either, but there wasn’t much she could do, it’s either this or…

“I thought you had a white blouse and a black dress, like the one you wore when we were young. I think you would look adorable in those,” The liar commented putting emphasis on the word “adorable”.

Anger and embarrassment washed over the leader of the Mekakushi Dan. She quickly lifted Kano out of bed and put him in a chokehold.

“Kidding… Kidding…” Kano was able to speak out.

As Kido released him out from her hold, he put up a smug smile, “You’re so cute when you’re mad,” He stated.

The leader’s face grew even redder from before. She quickly walked towards to door. “I will be waiting for you outside.” She told the liar.

“Wait, don’t go, come back. I was kidding!” The liar apologized. That wasn’t enough to stop Kido from opening the door to the living room. “Please…” He said as he mad a sad kitten expression on his face. “No,” Kido stated before shutting the door. As the door clicked close Kano’s face lit up with a grin, before whispering, “Tsubomi.” As he dwelled on Kido’s reactions he got off the bed and prepared to walk outside his room. As he reached for the handle he slightly prayed, _I hope life’s going to be better from now on._

            Shintaro watched as the body of Takane fall before him. Her body was mutilated to the point beyond recognition. What were tearstains on her cheeks were now covered with blood. As her body twitched as a final form of struggle before a white skinned figure stomped down on the head of the dying girl. Her brain matter splattered onto the furniture and the wall. Some got onto the jersey wearing teen as well, which made his lunch come back up into his mouth. As he vomited onto the ground beside the dead girl’s body, a shadow covered him. “Your turn…” He said with a sickening grin on his face. Shintaro looked up and saw a pale figure with dressed in all black looked down at him with his red eyes. “Kono-” He was able to make out before his vision turned crimson red.


	17. Beach

          It had been a rather uneventful five weeks for the Mekakushi Dan. As the days went by, Kido’s bone fractures were getting better and better. She was able remove her cast by the fifth week. To the leader of the Dan she felt more relieved than ever when she removed her cast. The five weeks had been an absolute torture for her. As she watched Kano and Momo continuously destroying the kitchen and Marry’s constant tripping and crying, she felt as if she was going to have a mental breakdown. Now that she could resume in taking responsibilities for the gang, she felt more in control. That was until Momo suggested a beach trip.

“Why are you suggesting us to go to the beach in October?” Shintaro questioned his sister.

The past five weeks for Shintaro wasn’t any better. The nightmares never went away, and now he is more paranoid about a certain white haired figure. The idol wouldn’t just pass off her brother’s behavior as just paranoid. He was being irrationally paranoid. Every time she asked something from Konoha, her brother will always be there around the corner spying on them. The idea of going to the beach also made Kano uneasy. He still remembered the dream he had the day Kido was released. Even though he kept telling himself that it’s just a nightmare, he was never able to convince himself.

“Well I was going to say we should go to the amusement park, but I know how you feel about that.” Momo replied.

“Yeah, but that sounds better! Let’s go to the amusement park. It’s more fun.” Kano joined in.

“We’re going to the beach.” The leader of the Mekakushi Dan spoke up.

Everyone in the Mekakushi Dan knew why Kido wanted to go to the beach, but who can blamer her? Her fears of roller coasters and haunted houses were so severe it could send her collapsing into unconsciousness. Since it is October, many amusement parks had been setting up more “extreme” haunted houses and were advertised on the newspapers that the green haired girl had been reading.

“Yay, commander’s the best!” Momo said in excitement while hugging her leader.

“How are we going to get there?” Seto asked, realising no one could drive, and the tram would be a huge hassle considering how crowded they are.

“Don’t worry, I already contacted my driver, he will take us there.” The idol responded. Suddenly her phone rang, “Hello? Yes, we’re coming now.” She responded. “He’s here let’s go!”

               The drive to the beach couldn’t have gone much worse. Every time Momo wanted to talk to Konoha, Shintaro pulled her away from the white haired boy. This had annoyed Momo so much that she kicked Shintaro in his shin, which made he wince in pain. Ene was situated next to the white haired teen as per her demand. The jersey wearing teen was reluctant until she threatened him with his secret folder. Kano kept making fun of Kido’s new outfit despite seeing it for the past month. Not to anyone’s surprise, the green haired girl eventually had enough and put him in a chokehold, which nearly asphyxiated the blonde boy. As for Seto and Marry, they were calmly sitting in the back of the car exchanging small talks.

As the car came to a stop, the eight members of the Mekakushi Dan got out.

“We’re here!” Momo presented the beach to the rest of the Dan.

The beach was beautiful. By the time they had arrived it was in the afternoon. The drive from the Dan to the beach was a rather long one. After the driver informed the idol that he will be waiting in the parking lot, the car slowly drove away. As the vehicle slowly disappeared into the distance, a short figure was revealed from behind the car. He was wearing a light blue t-shirt with a white cotton vest as well as a pair of grey shorts. In his hands were some groceries bags and his wallet with a weird squid monster as a keychain.

“Old co- Kisaragi?” He spoke out, stopping him from referring the idol as “old cow”.

“Hibiya?” Momo responded.

The rest of the gang who were originally admiring the beautiful beach had their attentions instantly diverted by the idol’s comment. Standing in front of the gang was Hibiya Amamiya, their friend whom they thought they wouldn’t see again. The idol immediately ran towards the boy and embraced him in a hug.

“It’s been so long, Hibiya!” She commented.

With obvious signs of struggle, the boy commanded, “Ah, I can’t breathe… Let go…”

“Sorry,” Momo apologized before asking, “How come you’re here?”

“Well…” He rubbed the back of his head before continuing in a sheepish tone, “I wanted to see you guys… Well that and because I miss Hiyori…” The boy added before lowing his glaze to the floor.

“But how?” The idol continued asking questions.

“Since what everyone in my town was calling the ‘Strange Disappearance of Hiyori,’ I just kinda wanted to detach myself from the whole thing. I was the only who knew what happened, but I couldn’t possibly tell everyone, ‘Hiyori’s dead due to a traffic accident, even though there is a chance that she’s still alive in a weird dimension with the involvement of a weird snake.’” He explained.

Talking about Hiyori had been getting easier for the youngster, he had stopped grieving over her death, but wanting to cherish the memories they’ve shared together. Even though most of the memories weren’t pleasant.

“So I asked my parents if I could visit the city again because I found clues to where Hiyori might be, and that it should be my responsibility to find her. Surprisingly that was a good enough reason for them to agree.” He continued.

“Where do you live now then?” The pop idol kept interrogating the young boy.

“You see that boat house down there?” Hibiya asked while pointing towards a harbor further down from the beach. “My dad has a friend who lend me the boat to live in while he was going on vacation. Anyways, what are you guys doing here?” He explained before asking.

“Well, we’re celebrating commander’s recovery.” Momo told the youngster.

“Recovery from what?” He asked.

“Just a small fight.” Kido answered quickly, not wanting to elaborate any further.

“Why don’t you come and join us, Hibiya?” Momo suggested.

“I still need to drop off the groceries but I guess I can join you guys after putting these bags away.” He concluded.

The idol jumped in excitement and told the boy, “Then you better come back fast!”

                The sunlight reflected off the waves, making the ocean look as if it was filled with little stars. Momo and Hibiya were walking around on the beach peacefully, while Shintaro watched from afar. He was surprised how calm the two were towards each other considering that their first encounters weren’t the greatest. As he rested on one of the benches all by himself, the white haired teen walked up to him.

“Hi, Shintaro.” Konoha greeted.

As if instinct, Shintaro moved slightly further away from the teen. However, he noticed that as soon as he moved away, the innocent looking figure suddenly had a concerned and saddened expression on his face.

“I’m sorry Shintaro, I’m sorry for whatever I have done to you to cause you to dislike me so much…” He apologized and bowed before stating, “please forgive me…”

Seeing how sorrowful Konoha looked, the jersey wearing teen slightly moved closer to the figure.

“I’m sorry, Konoha, you… you didn’t do anything… I guess I just had a rough few weeks that’s all…” Shintaro responded.

He was mentally scolding himself as he stated his response. He didn’t know why he was paranoid about Konoha to begin with. _It was just a stupid dream…_ He thought to himself.

“Here, Konoha you can sit next to me if you want…” The teen offered.

The white haired figure’s face instantly lit up. “I’m glad you can forgive me!” He stated before sitting down next to the shut-in.

As they watched on the interaction between Momo and Hibiya, Konoha suddenly broke the silence. “You’re very protective of your sister.”

Shintaro glanced at the other before returning his vision back onto the idol, “yeah I guess… Just doesn’t want to lose her I guess…” He responded without looking at the white haired figure.

 _The other, however, followed up with another question, “Have you ever thought about what would happen if you do lose her?” As soon as those words exited the teen’s mouth,_ a sharp pain could be felt from side of his face. As he fell down onto the hard pavement, he saw the jersey wearing teen stood up with his arm extended and a tightened fist. As the two stared at each other, no words were exchanged. A look of absolute anger rushed over Shintaro’s face. His eyes looked cold and his figure straightened. A force suddenly pushed the enraged figure down.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Momo yelled out, making sure people from the other side of the city could hear her.

However, there was no response from her brother. He sat on the bench in silence while glaring at the other boy.

“I’m sorry...” Konoha, unsure what he had done to make the jersey wearing teen angry, still apologized.

Shintaro’s fist clutched up once again. Just the voice of the boy could drive him insane.

Noticing her brother’s temper, she commanded, “Brother, go and rest in the car, I will lead you to the parking lot.”

As Momo dragged Shintaro away into the parking lot, she asked, “What happened, brother?”

Her brother brushed the question off as if no one was there.

“Hey! Answer me!” She yelled and walked in front of her brother, stopping him in his track.

“Bastard asked me what would happen if I lose you.” The teen finally replied.

“What do you mean? Hibiya and I were watching you, Konoha said nothing!” She exclaimed.

A face of concerned washed over Momo. She had a sneaky suspicion creeping up behind her.

“Momo, I know what I heard.” Shintaro insisted.

Having had enough of her brother’s lies, she asked bluntly, “Have you been skipping your therapist appointments?”

The brother, stumped by the question, looked away from her sister and kept walking.

“Answer me!” the idol insisted.

Shintaro knew he couldn’t lie to his sister any longer. He sighed, before replying, “I have… I just don’t find it helping…” His glaze still avoided hers as he answered.

“How about your meds?” Momo asked, audibly shaking in her voice.

“I… No, I’ve been skipping that too…” the defeated brother replied.

As he turned his head around towards the direction of the idol, he saw tears flowing down her cheeks, and her fists tightened against her skirt.

“Why?” She asked, quivering with sadness.

“Momo…” Shintaro started, wanting to make another excuse.

However, the idol looked up at her brother with fire in her eyes, a fire that no amount of tears can extinguish. “I don’t want excuses anymore! Just tell me the truth!” She yelled before leaning into Shintaro’s chest, clutching onto his white t-shirt underneath his jersey.

His heart ached as Momo cried into his shirt. “I just didn’t fine them useful… I’m sick of seeing everyone dying in front of me… I’m sick of seeing Kuroha betraying the Group one way or another and killing us all…” He muttered.

“You have no one to blame but yourself…” Momo stated before moving away from her brother.

“Hey, come back Momo!” the jersey wearing teen yelled out.

The idol had no intention of listening to her brother. All she wanted was to get back into the car and rest there.

“Momo!” Shintaro yelled, trying to get his sister’s attention, but to no avail.

He knew that she was upset with him, but he wanted to apologize and make everything better. As they reached the car that was parked in the parking lot, she told her chauffeur to unlock the doors before climbing inside. Shintaro soon followed after.

“Momo, I’m sorry. I really am…” He apologized.

Momo still had tears in her eyes, but they were drying up. She sighed, before replying, “Don’t be sorry… I’m just worried about you… I don’t want this to be a repeat of… you know what.”

“Ayano… I know. I hope it’s not either…” the brother understood the concern his sister had for him. The reason he locked himself up for two years in his room was mainly to forget about Ayano. After her suicide, Shintaro had nightmares about watching her fall every night for months, and he knew that Momo knew about this. Some days his sister would barge into the room at a wrong time and saw him distraught on his bed.

As the silence built up inside the car, Momo suddenly broke the silence. “Who’s Kuroha?” she asked, suddenly remembering this name that her brother mentioned earlier.

“Uh… In my dreams, Konoha would always become possessed and kill everyone. I know it’s strange… He always were all black, and his actions would be beyond sadistic… I guess that’s why I ended up calling him Kuroha… ” Shintaro explained away.

“Is that why you’re so paranoid?” Momo asked.

“Yes…” The jersey wearing teen replied simply.

The idol slapped her brother on his forehead. “They are just dreams, it’s not real.” She scolded.

                Back on the beach, Kido and Kano were sitting on a bench by themselves. In the distance, they could see, Seto and Marry sitting on the edge of a cliff having their own chitchats. Kano wanted to say something but he didn’t know what.

As they watched the sun slowly inch closer to the ocean, the blonde teen noticed it was a perfect time to comment on the beautiful sight, “Don’t you think this sight is beautiful…” He’s voice trailed off into a whisper as he reached the end of the sentence.

He suddenly noticed the strong parallel between his nightmare and this scenery.

“What did you say? Sorry, I didn’t hear you.” Kido commented.

“Nothing, don’t worry about it.” Kano replied.

Paranoia set off in his mind as he remembered what happened in his nightmare. He began to look around their surroundings carefully.

“Kano, is there something wrong?” the leader of the Mekakushi Dan asked as she watched Kano frantically scanning the area.

“Hmm? Oh, it’s nothing… Don’t worry about it…” He responded with a lie.

It wasn’t enough to fool Kido; she knew that the blonde teen was looking for something. She gently tapped on his shoulder and commanded, “Don’t lie, Kano.”

“It’s really nothing.” The liar insisted.

As he finished his sentence, he saw a tall figure from the corner of his eye. As the figure slowly approached them, Kano’s heart began pounding faster. He gulped before he turned around to see the figure clearer. It was just Konoha.

Kano sighed in relief before greeting the white haired figure. “Hey, Konoha.”

He then realized that the left cheek of Konoha’s was red and swollen. Loud screams could also be heard from within his pocket. “What happened?” Kano asked.

“I just took a bad stumble…” the innocent figure replied.

“No you didn’t! Stupid Shintaro punched in the face for no reason!” The voice in his pocket screamed out.

As the white haired figure took out a phone with a blue haired girl in it, the duo realized where the screaming came from.

“Why did he punch you,” Kido asked.

“No one knows, he just did it!” Ene defended Konoha.

“Ta- Ene calm down, it’s okay… Sometimes people can be too caught up with their emotions.” The white haired figure reasoned.

“That’s not just-” Ene was cut off by Konoha who pressed the mute button.

He then asked Kano and Kido, “Do you guys want some thing to eat or drink?”

“Isn’t the convenient store very far from here?” the leader asked with concern.

“It’s okay, I wanted to have a long walk.” Konoha responded.

“Then if it’s not too much trouble, I will just take a bottle of water please,” the leader asked of him, before thanking him.

“I don’t need anything Konoha.” The liar responded.

“Okay then, Ene and I will be back soon.” As the white haired figure left the duo, he unmuted Ene.

“Hey! You can’t just cut me off like that!” the virtual girl scolded as the two walked into the distance.

After Konoha left with the artificial intelligence, Kido returned her attention towards the ocean. “This sight is beautiful, isn’t it…” She commented before resting her chin on her palm with her elbow placed on top of her crossed leg.

“Yeah, it is…” Kano replied as he stared at the green haired girl.

As the ocean breeze blew past the two, Kido’s hair danced in the wind, lifting and dropping as the air passed through them. The movement of her hair could be described as gorgeous. The sunlight was not too far from a shade of dark orange as it slowly reached the sea level. The light shone onto the girl’s pale skin, making it glow. The liar couldn’t remove his gaze from her. He admired her beautiful features with detail. Her irises were lit up to reveal a lighter hazel colouration while her pallid lips shimmered. Her lips were slightly chapped, but even what would be considered flaws, Kano stilled adored the leader of the Dan. From her looks to her attitude, he loved her. He could feel three words stuck in his throat, and he wanted to spit them out. _Maybe I should just confess now…_ He told himself.

As he built up the courage to say something, his heart start to gallop in his chest, “Kido, I –”

As he was about to confess, a loud scream from the top of the cliff where Seto and Marry were could be heard. Kido immediately looked towards the direction and saw Seto holding onto the edge of the cliff with one arm.

“Seto!” She yelled out before rushing towards him.

“Hey, Kido wait up!” Kano stood up from the bench and followed behind the green haired girl.

            Seto was hanging on the ledge precariously. Underneath him were several rough rocks, which if he fell and landed on them, he was sure that he wouldn’t see another day. As he tried to reach the edge of the cliff with his other arm to lift himself back up, his hand slipped and he began falling. He let out a scream as his body started to descend into the rocks. He closed his eyes and embraced for impact, but instead felt a force holding onto his wrist. The jumpsuit wearing teen opened his eyes and looked up. It was Kido. She was holding onto his wrist with full force, making sure he wasn’t going to slip out of her hand.

“Hold on!” She yelled out.

Kido was laying on an uneven surface; any tiny touch might have a chance of pushing her into the ocean and rocks with Seto. As she slowly lifted Seto up, her arm on the ledge slipped, sending her tumbling off the edge. She was able to hold onto the ledge with her left arm as she was falling.

“Are you okay, Kido?” Seto yelled out, concerned with the leader.

“I’m fine, I just need to lift you up…” She answered while trying to lift her right arm up so she could allow Seto to reach the edge of the cliff.

However, she wasn’t strong enough, the attempt made Kido’s left arm lose grip on the edge. Before they could fall, Kano leapt towards them and held onto Kido’s left hand.

“Kido, Seto!” He yelled.

“Kano! Don’t try and lift us, you’re not strong enough for it! You will end up falling as well!” Seto exclaimed.

“I will try anyways.” The liar determined to save his friends, started to pull them up.

It wasn’t successful. He only lifted the duo by an inch, before collapsing from the weight.

“Kano, he’s right, just let go…” Kido asked of him.

“What? No! Are you crazy?” the liar replied.

“Kano if you let go, Seto and I might have a chance to fall into the ocean and not the rocks.” The green haired girl suggested.

“No! I’m not going to risk losing you again!” Kano screamed out.

He used all his might and tried to pull the duo up.

“Kano, don’t, I’m slipping!” the leader of the Dan warned, but it was too late.

As Kano pulled upwards, Kido and Seto slipped out of his hands.

“Kido, Seto!” The blonde teen screamed as he watched them fall into the ocean below.

He couldn’t tell if them made contact with the rocks below. As he waited for the two members of the Mekakushi Dan to resurface, he noticed the silent weeping coming from next to him. Marry was kneeled down next to him, crying profusely.

“It’s all my fault…” She began as she choked on her tears. “I accidentally… made Seto fall…”

“What?” Kano was shocked to find that Marry was the culprit. “What happened?” He shook the medusa with anger.

“I’m sorry!” the white haired girl screamed out.

“Tell me!” Kano kept yelling at the girl as she cried louder.

“I saw Hibiya looking at the ocean by himself and wanted to join him… But… But… When I was getting up, I nearly fell… Seto pulled me in… but ended up sending himself off the cliff…” Marry answered as her tears ran down her eyes.

“God damn it, Marry, why do you have to be so careless!” The liar chastised.

            Under the cold sea, Seto was sinking. Blood trickled from the back of his head, painting the ocean red. As he floated lifelessly towards the bottom of the ocean, Kido quickly held onto him and swam towards the surface. As two resurfaced, Kido quickly brought the jumpsuit wearing teen onto the beach.

“Kano, Marry! Come down here!” the green haired girl yelled towards the cliff.

 _He’s bleeding a lot…_ She thought. Kido tore off her left sleeve and stretched it out. As she wrapped the temporary bandage around Seto’s head, the liar and the medusa headed down from the cliff. Marry was still crying out loud. She covered her face with her hands to control her tears. As she made a small window between her fingers, she saw Seto lying on the sand with his head bandaged. Immediately she dropped her hands down and ran towards the jumpsuit wearing teen.

“Kido!” Kano yelled out, “your arm!”

Initially Kido didn’t know what he was saying, then she felt a sharp pain coming from her left forearm. As she looked for the source of her pain, she noticed the giant gash on her forearm. Blood was pouring from the wound, and it was dripping onto the sand.

She quickly covered it with her right hand before commanding, “We need to bring him to the car!”

            “Why did you just let him hit you like that?” Takane yelled out with anger.

She still thought that the jersey wearing teen was out of line when he punched Haruka.

“He was just a little emotional that’s all.” The other teen replied in his normal stoic voice, but with a smile.

There it was the same smile again. The same smile that was able to brighten any of the virtual girl’s days.

“You’re too nice, Haruka…” She commented while facing away from him.

Even if she couldn’t feel it, she knew there were digital blushes on her cheeks. As the white haired teen stared at her in confusion, he bumped into a man near the convenient store.

“Ah, I’m sorry…” Haruka apologized.

“It’s oka-” The man stopped himself from continuing, “Kokonose?”

“Huh?” The innocent figure made a confused remark.

 _It’s Mr. Tateyama…_ Takane thought to herself. In front of them stood what was their homeroom teacher, Kenjirou Tateyama. He was wearing his old white lab coat with a red collared t-shirt underneath as well as his long black trousers.

“Oh hello kids…” He greeted to the two teens, despite the fact that he could only see one of them.

“Mr. Tateyama? What are you doing here?” Haruka asked.

He could feel a slight headache developing. “I see that you’re regaining some of your memories… Good…” Tateyama commented, before turning to the boy’s phone. “Aren’t you glad he is able to remember?”

As the teacher’s face got up to the camera of the phone, Takane noticed that the eyes were red. The phone then vibrated, drawing Haruka’s attention to its screen. On the screen was a notification of a text and it read, “He’s eyes are red… He’s not normal.”

“No need to hide the fact that you don’t trust me, Enomoto,” Kenjirou paused and adjusted his glasses before continuing, “And you shouldn’t trust me… After all, your homeroom teacher isn’t in control of his body anymore.”

Both Takane and Haruka were speechless from the statement. They didn’t know how to react to it.

“What do you mean by that? Who are you then?” Haruka asked, his facial expression no longer on of cheerfulness, but one of seriousness.

“That you don’t need to know. Just know that I’m the one who is responsible for your… Transformations… And I’m just here to tell you that I can revert you back.” The body replied.

The statement raised many alarms in the virtual girl’s head, but the offer was everything that she had wanted.

“Sorry, but we’re okay… Now leave my friend and I alone…” The white haired figure stated, his eyes growing red as he finished his sentence.

“Don’t be so rash… I think someone else might be thinking otherwise.” Kenjirou’s body answered with a grin, pointing to the phone that the teen was holding.

The blue haired girl saw it with the rear camera and started to speak up, “Haruka, maybe we should go with it…”

The white haired figure, shocked by what his friend said, responded, “Takane, it’s going to be trap.”

“I know but I want us to go back to normal… Haruka, maybe this is our only chance of becoming ourselves again. None of this digital crap, or memory loss. Just us… Takane and Haruka. Not Ene and Konoha…” Takane told him.

Haruka felt a strong vibration coming from the phone as the virtual girl explained.

He gave in and released a sigh. “Fine, when do we meet?” He asked Tateyama.

“Tonight at eleven. Go to this address and then go down the basement level. I will be waiting.” The adult responded with an evil grin before sending the meeting place the phone.

“How do you know phone number?” Takane asked, confused and shocked.

Tateyama just pointed to his head before turning around and waved goodbye.

“Are you sure about this, Takane?” Haruka asked.

“Yes, we have to at least take this chance…” The virtual girl responded.

            Kido was running towards the car with Seto on her back. Kano and Marry prompted followed.

As they reached the vehicle, the leader quickly opened the door and commanded, “We need to go to the hospital now!”

She carefully put the unconscious teen into the car seat, she was bombarded with questions by the idol. “Commander, what happened? Why is Seto bleeding so much? How about you? Your arm is bleeding badly too! You need medical attention as well!” Shintaro tried to shush his sister up, but it was no use.

“Kisaragi, we don’t have time, just send him to the hospital. Kano, Marry, you two go with them, I will find Hibiya and Konoha.” The green haired girl kept giving out orders.

“Kido, you need to get your wound treated!” Kano exclaimed, grabbing the girl’s shoulder.

“Just do as you’re told!” Kido yelled, before shoveling the boy into the car. She quickly slammed the door and ran back towards the beach.

            Hibiya was alone, sitting on the far side of the beach. He purposely chose somewhere rather remote so the rest of the Mekakushi Dan couldn’t see him. As he turned his head to the right and saw a cliff which Seto and Marry were sitting on. He knew that they can see him, but it didn’t matter. Hibiya knew they couldn’t hear him or get a good look at him. He turned his attention back towards the ocean. The sun was slowly setting, making the ocean seem as if was filled with little stars. As he listened to the calming sounds of the waves crashing into one another, he closed his eyes and lied down on the sand. Images of Hiyori suddenly made their way to his vision.

 _“Hibiya, you’re the worst!”_ She would scream.

_“Hiyori!”_

_Splat._

_Guts and blood stained the crossroad._

_Morning again._

_“Wait up, Hiyori!”_

_Splat._

_Spikes penetrated the little body._

_The sun raised above the Earth’s surface._

_“Hi-”_

_Splat._

_A twisted neck and blood from her mouth and nose._

_“It’s all your fault, Hibiya… I died because of you!” Bloody figure yelled._

_Blood dripping._

_Dripped onto his body._

_“I’m sorry…”_

“Hibiya!”

_“I’m sorry.”_

“Hey Hibiya!”

_“It’s my fault…”_

“Hibiya _, you’re nothing but a burden and a piece of trash. Why don’t you just disappear!”_

“Hibiya!” The last scream woke the dreaming boy.

He can still feel blood trickling onto his skin. As he opened his eyes wider, he saw Kido standing above him. Blood from her arm flowed down her hand and dripped onto the boy’s face.

“Kid- Boss! Your arm!” He suddenly sat up and pointed at the badly cut forearm.

“It’s fine, don’t worry about me, Seto needed to be send to the hospital, so if you want you can go home now…” The leader told Hibiya.

“What? No, I will come with you! Which hospital?” The boy asked.

“I don’t know yet, I asked Kisaragi to send me a text once they are there. I’m glad you’re joining us…” The green haired teen responded with a kind smile “We need to find Konoha as well.” She continued, “He said he was going to a convenient store.”

“Oh I know where the closest one is. I bet he’s there. I will lead you,” The vest-wearing youngster said.

“Thank you.” Kido gestured.

As they headed towards the store, the green haired girl felt a bit dizzy. The more they walked, the more sluggish her movement became.”

Hibiya noticed this and suggested, “We should just go to a hospital, and we can just message Konoha or something.”

“We can-” Kido started, before her leg gave out on her and made her collapse onto the ground. She grunted before trying to get up again.

“No, stop, we’re going to a hospital. I’m gonna message Konoha.”

Kido felt sweat gathering on her forehead and she started to see stars. Her hearing started to diminish as he vision blurred. She was struggling to keep her eyelid open, and before long her consciousness gave away.


	18. Prelude

            As the leader of the Dan opened her eyes, she noticed that she was in a dark room with windows to her right. A sight that was way too familiar to her. _Hospital again, huh?_ She thought. As she sat up, she noticed that she was in a hospital gown.

She slowly let out a sigh before whispering, “Damn it…” She mentally scolded herself for being rash again.

When she scanned the room, she noticed that no one was there. A bit of her felt disappointed that the liar wasn’t present. The door to the room suddenly swung open and a white haired figure walked in.

“Ah, Kido, I see you’re awake.” Konoha greeted.

“Hi, Konoha. How’s Seto?” the green haired girl asked, stoic as ever.

“He’s stable now. Marry’s with him right now.” The figure informed.

“I see… Where are the others?” Kido followed with another question.

“Everyone else is out for dinner,” He paused before adding, “It took a lot of convincing to try and get Kano to leave this room and eat.”

He walked towards the leader of the gang and sat down next to the bed. “You know, he really cares about you…” He finished.

“That idiot…” the green haired girl commented, envisioning the rest of the Mekakushi Dan dragging a reluctant Kano out of the hospital room. She smiled a little at her thought.

“Kido?” The white haired figure asked. “Do you like Kano?”

Kido, broken out of her trance by that question, had a surprised expression on her face.

“Why do you ask?” She replied. “Just curious,” Konoha replied.

“I… I don’t know…” The green haired girl responded.

She had thought about this before. The liar had always been the person she went to when she wanted to talk to someone. She enjoyed sharing her thoughts with the boy. Whenever he’s hurt, she had always felt an overwhelming sensation of rage. The same went the other way around. Whenever she’s unwell the blonde boy will be there to attempt to cheer her up. She knew the answer to the question very well, but she just couldn’t muster up the courage to admit it.

“It sure feels as he does,” The white haired figure said, smiling gently.

Kido didn’t know how to respond to that statement. In a way, she felt relieved. It was nice to know that maybe he returned her feelings towards him.

Suddenly a vibration went off in the boy’s pocket. He reached in and grabbed his phone. As he looked at the screen, he frowned slightly.

“What is it, Konoha?” the green haired girl asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing… Don’t worry about it. Anyways you still need some rest, why don’t you sleep for a while?” Konoha offered.

Seeing right through the lie, Kido decided to get up from the bed. “It’s fine, I think I’m going to check out of the hospital now,” The leader of the Mekakushi Dan stated.

As she got out of her bed to put on her clothes that were neatly hanging from the bed railing, the white haired boy stood up and grabbed onto her arm with force, before pushing her back down onto the bed. Kido shocked by the boy’s reaction asked, “Konoha?”

“I think you still need some rest. Sorry…” Konoha answered with clear panic in his voice.

The leader could tell something was wrong, but thought wise not to try and pry the reason out of his mouth. As she sunk into the hospital bed, the white haired figure rushed out of the door. As the door clicked shut, she quickly got up and changed into her clothes before following the white haired figure.

          Momo and the rest were heading back to Kido and Seto’s rooms to check up on them after their dinner. As she led the group back to the hallway with their respective rooms, she heard a sigh coming from Kano. It was a pain to bring the liar to dinner. He kept insisting that he was going to stay by Kido’s side and that he wasn’t hungry. After having to have Konoha pick him up and carry him to the convenient store, he finally decided to stick with the gang. However, even then he still refused to eat and would constantly murmur, “How long is this gonna take?” or “I wonder if Kido’s awake yet.” If it weren’t for the idol and her brother shoving food into Kano’s arms, they doubted that he would even eat anything.

“Hey, Kano, I’m sure everything is okay. Kido’s gonna be fine.” The idol told the liar in the hallway. He simply gave an acknowledging nod.

“I wonder if Konoha’s back yet? He went back before we did.” Shintaro asked.

As if summoned by the jersey wearing teen, the white haired boy came rushing down the hall.

“What’s wrong, Konoha?” Momo asked as the teen came to a stop in front of the group.

“Umm… Just remembered that I had to take Ene out somewhere…” He lied.

“Wooo… Is it a date?” The excited idol asked.

“You can call it that…” Konoha acted as shy as he could muster to sell his lie.

“Well, then have fun! Brother, hand him your phone!” Momo commanded.

As Shintaro handed his phone over, he felt small vibrations coming from it. _Does she really like Konoha?_ The teen thought to himself.

“Thank you!” Konoha gestured and ran off.

“It’s nice that they’re able to get together…” Hibiya commented, sounding more mature than normal.

“Yeah… Anyways let’s head back,” Kano responded before walking down the hall.

However, not long after Konoha’s departure, another figure came rushing by. “Kido!” the liar yelled out and grabbed her by her wrist. “What the hell are you doing here? You need rest!” He told the leader.

“I have to go after Konoha, something is definitely wrong.” She announced.

“Relax, commander, it’s just that he’s going to take Ene on a date… He’s probably just really nervous.” Momo answered.

“No, something bigger is definitely going on. I’m going to follow him. I don’t want anyone of you to come along, understood?” Kido commanded while pulling her wrist back from Kano.

“I have to go, I will meet you guys in Seto’s hospital room later.” She informed them before running off.

Kano, ignoring the order gave out by his leader, immediately followed behind, but was caught by the idol.

“It’s okay, you just go look after Seto, I will look after commander for you.” She smiled while holding onto Kano’s wrist. “Trust me.”

           As the white haired figure ran out of the hospital and onto the street, he noticed vibrations in his pocket. As he took out his phone, he saw Takane curled up with her cheeks slightly red.

“What’s wrong?” The boy asked.

“Nothing!” She yelled before muttering, “Why did you have to call it a date?”

“Well, if this was a date, it would be a horrible one…” Haruka responded.

“You heard me?” the blue haired girl responded with shock. The only response the other teen gave was a smile.

“Anyways, we have to go to my grandma’s house first to grab some clothes.” The girl commanded.

“Okay,” Haruka responded, “I wonder how your grandmother is doing…” he asked.

The thought did came to Takane a few times after she got transported into Shintaro’s computer, but she never put too much thought into the idea. “Now, that you brought it up, I did disappear for two years…” Guilt slowly crawled its way up the virtual being. “She must have panicked so much… Ugh, my parents probably freaked out, too… I hope they are all okay.” She commented.

“After tonight, you can finally go back and see them again.” Haruka generated an appropriate response to try and cheer the girl up. “Yeah… I guess,” Takane said, before leaning against a virtual wall. To her, it felt as if she was leaning on Haruka’s shoulder. _Maybe I will properly confess to you after all this…_ She wished.

           Haruka reduced his running to a simple speed walk after a while. As the night goes by, the streets were getting less and less crowded. The autumn breezes blew past him as he continued down the path to Takane’s apartment. The breeze felt calming. It was cool, but not sharp, unlike the harsh winter wind. As he continued walking, he felt as if a pair of gaze was set upon him. Truth was, he had felt it for sometime, but never paid too much attention to it. He suddenly stopped, and started to scan his surroundings.

“What’s wrong, Haruka?” Takane asked.

“I think we’re being followed…” He boldly stated.

“What? Are you sure? I mean it might be just paranoia setting in.” The blue haired girl doubted him.

“Maybe… We should get going, it’s getting late, and we still quite far from your apartment.” The white haired figure stated before picking up his pace.

However, he could still feel a presence behind him. _Damn it, they are not letting go…_ He thought. He then noticed a dark alleyway to the right of the pedestrian walk. He made a sharp turn and went into the alleyway.

“Who's there?” Haruka yelled before turning around.

“Oh, well I see that you have spotted me…” A figure came from around the corner.

“It’s you again…” The boy hissed at the figure. It was their homeroom teacher, Tateyama, or whatever that it was that possessed him.

“I was just checking to make sure that you’re still coming...” He stated with a smug smile on his face.

“Yeah, we are, now leave.” Haruka commanded.

“Not so soon, you’ll need this.” Tateyama threw an object at the boy. He caught it swiftly before examining it.

“A keycard?” He questioned.

“Yeah, for entering my office.” The man responded, his pupils were red and sharp, almost like a snake.

“Anyways I will see you two there, then…” He turned around to face the well-lit streets before waving them goodbye.

“I really don’t trust him…” Haruka commented before heading in the same direction.

“I know… But it’s the only chance we’ve got.” Takane answered.

          Kido watched the whole exchange from across the street. She didn’t know what was happening or what they talked about, but she knew it couldn’t have been good. Judging from Konoha’s expression, whatever Tateyama was offering him was not something he wanted to be a part of. As the man who adopted her exit the alleyway, he look in the direction of the green haired girl and smiled. He looked like if he knew she was there, despite the fact that she was using her ability at the time. Then she saw him pulling out his phone and started texting. After a few seconds, her phone vibrated, displaying that she had received a new message. “What the hell?” She asked quietly before opening the text. “Hey Tsubomi! It’s not nice to spy on people you know.” The message read. “Huh?” Kido made a noise of confusion. As she looked up from her phone, the man had disappeared.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” she stated. As Konoha exited the alleyway, she quickly started to move again.

A voice silently commented as she continued to follow the white haired teen, “Why do you always have to take things into your own hands, commander?”

          The time was ten o’clock, and the duo of Haruka and Takane had finally reached her apartment. There was a little issue; she lived on the third floor.

“We can’t use the front door, there’s no way my grandma would let you in.” The blue haired girl informed.

“Well I can try and jump… Hold on.” He gently placed the phone into his pocket and backed up from the building. As his eye glowed, he leaped into the air. He reached the window and grabbed onto the small ledge underneath the window with his hand and tried to open the window. Fortunately for both of them the window wasn’t locked. Haruka swiftly climbed inside and then closed the window behind him.

“Okay we’re here…” The white haired figure announced softly. He took the phone out of his pocket and asked, “Where do you keep your clothes?”

“Um, you see that cabinet?” She asked as she pointed towards a wooden cabinet with four drawers for storage. “It would be the first two drawers.”

“Okay,” Haruka acknowledged, before pulling out the first drawer. Inside were t-shirts, hoodies and socks. He was surprised by the sheer amount of shirts Takane actually have despite the fact that she spend most of her days indoors playing video games. He grabbed a black hoodie with a rather plain design and a pair of white ankle socks.

“I think these will suit you.” Haruka expressed.

“Why that hoodie?” The girl asked with a distain in her voice. “I think you’ll look nice in them.” The white haired figure explained.

“It’s a little too big for me…” Takane addressed her issue with the boy.

“Oh, I can just pick another one then.” The boy said with disappointment in his voice.

“No, no, it’s fine… Don’t change it.” The virtual being hurriedly told the other.

She felt guilty for not liking the clothing that Haruka chose for her. She didn’t even have too much issue with the size. The only reason that she was against wearing it was because it reminded her too much of the Actor. The design was similar. There were three yellow stripes on each of the sleeves with one short yellow stripe right above the chest.

“Are you sure?” The white haired teen asked.

“Yeah, I am,” The blue haired girl answered.

Haruka then closed the first drawer and moved on to the next. The second drawer consisted with only skirts and pants. He grabbed a skirt that went down to Takane’s knees and a pair of shorts for her to wear underneath.

“Here, that’s everything.” The teen announced quietly, making sure to not wake up anyone who were currently in the apartment.

“Well, I need one more thing… Close your eyes and search through the third drawer. Don’t you dare open them up you understand?” Takane demanded.

Her express was not a playful one, but rather serious.

“Why? What’s in the drawer?” The white haired teen asked.

“You don’t need to worry about, just close your eyes and open it!”

Takane yelled. Noticing the sudden increase in volume, he quickly muted the phone. He froze in position, listening for any movements from outside the room. After a few moments of pure silence, he judged that no one was woken up but the blue haired girl’s yelling. He unmuted the phone and turned around.

“Sorry…” the girl apologized quietly.

“It’s fine.” The boy responded before closing his eyes.

As he reached into the third drawer, he was instantly able to tell what it contained.

“You don’t have to be ashamed of me looking at your underwear,” Haruka commented.

“You!” Takane could feel a wave of anger and embarrassment rushing up her.

“Just take out a pair of underwear…” She commented.

After a slow process of Haruka failing to distinguish the differences between a pair of bras and a pair of undergarments, due to his lack of sight, he was finally able to take them out. After closing the drawer, he opened his eyes back up.

“You like it?” He asked while analyzing the bra and undergarment.

“Stop looking at it, pervert!” She yelled again, this time louder.

“Shush!” Haruka quickly muted her again.

This time he heard footsteps outside. He quickly packed the clothes she needed in a backpack that was lying on the side of the bed and exited through the window with the phone in hand.

“Takane, is that you?” a voice came from outside of the room. The voice was old and shaky. She reached for the handle and opened the door.

“Takane?” Her grandmother called out. She quickly noticed that the window was open, and walked towards it to close it.

“My ear’s playing trick on me again…” She told herself, hiding the tears that were welling up in her eyes. Down on the pavement was Haruka, running away from the apartment building.

“That was close…” He commented before stating, “Time to head to the address.”

              In the distance a figure was stalking them in the shadows.

“Where are you heading to?” Kido asked quietly before following after the duo.


	19. Prelude II

         “We’re here.” Haruka stated before looking up at the building.

“Isn’t this our school?” Takane asked as she looked at the address that was sent by Kenjirou.

“It is? Oh right, it is… That’s certainly strange…” The white haired boy slowly retrieved his memories.

“It’s okay if you don’t remember it that much right now. You will be getting your memories back soon.” The blue haired girl comforted.

“Yeah, I guess…” The boy replied before entering the facility.

The school had closed at this hour, but usually there would still be guards patrolling the area. However, there were no guards in sight. The security cameras did seem to work as they tracked the white haired teen as he walked around the facility.

“You think Tateyama was able to pay the guards off?” Haruka asked, fully knowing the answer to that question.

“Yeah, he’s not paying off anyone, he barely had enough money to afford the damn fish specimen.” Takane remarked.

The school grounds were pitch black and the only source of light the white haired figure had was the flashlight from the phone.

“It’s so bright Haruka, think you can turn that light down a bit?” The blue haired figure complained.

“Sorry, just bare with it for a while… I can’t see anything without it.” Haruka replied.

          As they walked into the building, a wave of nostalgia hit the blue haired girl. Standing in front of the shoe lockers, Takane began, “I still remember I was feared by most of everyone here when I walked in school everyday…” She smiled as she reminisced about the past. That was quickly disrupted by an unpleasant memory; her face grimaced within the screen.

“What’s wrong, Takane?” The other teen asked, worried by the expression on the digital figure’s face.

“It’s… nothing.” She replied, knowing full well that it’s a lie.

“Is it because of ‘that’ day?” Haruka asked, looking right through her disguise.

The girl released a deep sigh before nodding slightly. “Hey, it’s not your fault that it happened… My body was just weak, that’s all…” The pale figure tried to comfort his friend.

“Haruka, stop… I don’t think I will ever forgive myself for that… Let’s just keep going… Where are we supposed to meet him anyways?” Takane asked with sorrow lingering in her eyes.

“I don’t know, he didn’t say… I just have this keycard.” Haruka replied. “Hey what’s that on my locker,” The digital figure asked, suddenly noticing a piece of paper stuck on the wall of her locker.

The white haired figure walked up to it and tore it down before reading it out loud, “Go to the security office on the first floor.” “I guess that’s where we’re going,” Takane commented.

“Well, here it is…” Haruka stated as they stood in front of the door to the security office.

When they were still attending this school, no one ever approached this office for help; they would always go to the guard post or the teacher’s office for it. There were even myths and legends about this place that everyone seemed to believe. Takane would always hear something about, “Did you know, you can hear screams coming from within these doors at night.” She always thought they were stupid, but knowing what their possessed homeroom teacher had done to them, she can hardly pass them off as myths and legends now. The door itself was locked by a card scanner, which before tonight, people always thought it would belong to some insane guard who murders for a living.

“That’s not far off I guess…” Takane said out loud.

“What’s not?” Haruka inquired, not knowing what the blue haired girl was talking about.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just some stupid thoughts, that’s all. Why do you try using the keycard on this door.” Takane desperately changed the topic.

As Haruka tapped the card on the keycard scanner, it beeped and unlocked the door. As he opened the door, he saw a staircase that will lead them down.

“Never knew the school had a basement.” The blue haired girl commented.

“Well, there’s no returning from this point. You sure you want to go through with this?” He asked the virtual being. “Yeah, let’s do it…” She replied.

         As the Konoha entered the basement, the door closed behind him, leaving Kido no way of entering.

“Damn it…” She muttered under her breath.

“Commander, I think there’s probably another entrance somewhere.” A voice came from behind the green haired girl, which made her scream in terror. “It’s just me commander…” The voice stated.

The leader of the Dan turned around to find Momo standing behind her with a smile across her face.

“Kisaragi? What are you doing here?” Kido asked, confused to why the pop idol was also on the school grounds.

The idol rubbed the back of her head and answered, “Well, I kinda… followed you…”

“What?” The leader yelled with fury, “What did I tell you and the rest not to do?”

“Follow you?” Momo answered sheepishly, she knew what she did was not what was asked by her commander.

“Then why did you?” Kido kept scolding; it was hard for her to resist her urge of punching the idol in her solar plexus.

“Well, I wanted to make sure that you stayed safe. Originally Kano was going to follow you but I stopped him.” The orange haired girl tried to explain herself.

The leader breathed a long sigh before remarking, “Knowing that idiot he would probably have caused even more trouble…” She ended her comment with an order, “Kisaragi, go back to the hospital. I don’t need you here.”

“But commander, what if you get hurt again?” Momo asked with worriedness in her voice.

Stating that she was concerned for her commander was an understatement. She didn’t want her to get into a situation in which she needed to be sent the hospital again, and never mind entering something that may end her life.

“I will be fine. I can’t guarantee your safety if you follow me.” The green haired girl continued to reject the offer.

“I don’t want you to die, commander!” The idol shouted.

Kido didn’t know what the say after that statement. She knew that Momo cared about her a lot, but to hear these words out loud made it felt real. Despite being in shock and happy for how much the orange haired teen cared for her, she quickly responded with, “And I don’t want any members of the Mekakushi Dan to die either. So just go.”

“I will be your wingman, how about that?” The idol requested.

“Wingman?” Kido confused by Kisaragi’s statement, asked.

“Yeah, I will try and protect you!” orange haired girl was very keen on selling her idea.

“Kisaragi, I told you before, I’m not worried about my own safety, but yours!” The leader, who was getting fed up of the idol, stated with annoyance.

“I will listen to everything you say!” Momo gave her final offer.

Kido knew there was no way she could convince the idol to go back and finally gave in, “Fine, just stay behind me at all times.”

The idol straightened up her back, and stood with her legs close together before resting her right hand on her forehead. “Understood, Commander!” She called out.

The cuteness of the idol was able to cool Kido down somewhat. “Anyways, we need a way to get down to the basement,” The leader stated the objective.

“Oh, well there should be an elevator in the staff’s office. I walk past it every time I was late to school.” The orange haired teen answered with ease.

“Wait, Kisaragi, you study here?” Kido asked in shock.

“Yeah, I do, which was why I found it a bit strange that you followed Konoha here.” Momo replied.

          The idol led the leader to the back door of the school building, which she was all too familiar with.

“How did you know about this path Kisaragi? It doesn’t seem like somewhere a student would go to.” Kido asked.

“Well… Since I didn’t have control over my power then, everyday getting to school was always a hassle and I was always late. This entrance can help me being spotted by my teachers. Especially my homeroom teacher…” The innocent girl replied with a slight embarrassed tone.

As the approach the door, the green haired girl reached for the handle before asking, “Who was your homeroom teacher anyways?”

Kido knew some teachers in the school as her “father” did work in this school. She remembered that he once was talking about this extremely advisor teacher who had an argument with him.

“Oh, his name is… Tateyama! I think…” Momo replied with some confidence.

“Ta… Tateyama?” Kido repeated, surprised by the answer. _Everyone’s somehow so closely related_ … She thought.

“What is it, commander? What’s wrong?” The idol asked concerned by the upset expression that washed over the green haired girl’s face.

“It’s nothing, let’s just keep going.” The leader commanded.

“There’s the elevator,” Momo pointed towards it before commenting, “This school is certainly a lot creepier with the lights all off. I wonder if there are any ghosts roaming here.” As soon as the question existed her mouth, she realized what she had said.

In front of her, the leader of the Dan suddenly stopped.

“Commander, you… You okay there?” She asked.

“Yeah, fine, come on, let’s head to the elevator. Let’s hurry a bit, maybe Konoha and Ene would be in danger by now.” The green haired girl said with a quivering voice.

The two rushed to the elevator and pressed the button for the basement floor. The door closed in front of them as the contraption led them underground.

       “This stairs sure is long…” Takane commented.

“It’s not also very bright here…” Haruka suggested while holding the phone in his hand, using it as a light source.

The duo had been walking for a while now, and the stairs seemed unending.

“Wait, I think we’re almost there.” The digital figure replied, noticing the slimmer of light that’s further down.

“That’s good…” the white haired teen breathed, tired of seeing the same staircase over and over.

As they approached the brightly lit area, they noticed that this area underneath the school resembles a giant laboratory. The basement was rather spacious with doors that lead to many rooms.

“I can’t believe all of this is down here…” Takane said, flabbergasted by the size of this underground laboratory.

The white haired teen simply responded with a nod and a gulp of saliva. As Haruka continued further into the facility, they saw a strange looking container.

“This one looks like a glass tube.” The digital figure pointed out to the boy.

The glass tube looked as if it was a containment area. The room was big enough to at least fit twenty people. What’s odd was that the room looked brand new. As if no one had ever used it before. _Maybe it’s newly built… Wonder what it was planned for…_ The blue haired girl thought.

As they continued down several corridors, the duo began to feel lost.

“Do you know where are we heading to Haruka?” Takane asked, slightly worried that they wouldn’t make it in time.

“No, not really… Sorry…” The white haired figure replied with an apologetic tone.

“It’s fine, Haruka! Don’t be sorry, I’m sure we will find it.” The blue haired figure tired to comfort the boy.

Immediately after Takane finished her sentence, a buzz came from the phone. Her tiny figure was then crushed by a text message that displayed on the screen. “Room 314.” The text read.

“Where’s room 314?” Haruka asked, still unsure where to go.

“Ow…” The virtual being groaned before continuing,

“Well judging from the numbers that we’ve walked passed, it could be assumed that all the numbers on this floor starts with 1. So… Maybe two floors down?” Takane deduced.

“Yeah, maybe, here, let me just…” The white haired figure said and his eye turned red.

He punched the floor below him and made the floor collapse. As the floorboard made contact with the one underneath, it collapsed as well. The dust and dirt slowly dissipated, and the teen slowly stood up.

“That hurt…” the white haired figure grunted.

“Well, at least we’re here Haruka.” Takane told the boy, sounding completely unharmed.

“Time to find room 314.” Haruka stated.

          The elevator dinged in the underground facility, and sound echoed through the halls of the empty laboratory. The doors slid open and Kido and Momo stepped out.

“What is this place?” The idol awed as she scanned her surroundings.

“I don’t know, but I don’t have a good feeling about this…” the leader responded.

“Do you think this is some kind of laboratory maybe?” The orange haired teen continued asking questions.

“Maybe. From the looks of it, it sure resembles one. Come on we have to go find Konoha and Ene.” Kido answered.

As the duo continued walking down some corridors, they noticed that there are numbers that were attached to the side of each room.

“Hmmm… This room reads 314.” Momo pointed out.

“Hm? Yeah… It doesn’t seem important, let’s just keep going.” The green haired girl commanded.

The idol wanted to follow her commander, but something about the number felt strange to her. _Feels like déjà vu…_ She thought to herself. She then slowly reached for the doorknob and placed her hand around it.

“Kisaragi, come on, we have to- Wait, don’t!” Kido shouted, noticing that the idol had entered the room.

Suddenly a scream burst from within.

“Kisaragi?” The leader yelled before running into the room herself.

As she looked into the room, she saw Momo on the floor, gaze fixated on what’s in front of her.

“Hey, Kisaragi, are you o-” The green haired girl wanted to ask if her friend was okay, but realized what was in front of them.

Two giant glass tubes filled with a clear liquid were situated before them. Inside the tubes were two bodies, bodies that resemble Konoha and Ene.

“What the hell…” Kido breathed, not knowing what to make of what’s in front of her. “It’s… Enomoto and Kokonose…” She commented.

          Memories rushed back towards the green haired girl. She remembered her sister Ayano introducing them to her, Kano and Seto, when they were over at their house for studying.

“Takane, Haruka, meet my siblings!” Ayano introduced before pointing to each one of them and saying their names.

“Tsubomi Kido, Shuuya Kano, and Kousuke Seto.”

“Hey, isn’t that the kids that were at the shooting gallery?” Enomoto asked.

“Oh, you three joined the school festival as well?” Ayano asked.

“Oh, no, just the blonde one and… the green haired one… What’re their names again? Kano and Kido?” Takane pointed out.

“Yeah! I would seriously worry if you forgot their names seconds after I introduced them. Since you guys had met before you should get along just fine.” The sister clapped her hands together before retreating to her room.

Haruka was standing next to the double pigtailed girl, “Nice to meet you all. Hopefully we can all be friends.” He greeted before following the black haired girl.

Enomoto, however, didn’t follow them. She stepped towards Kido and put her hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Last time we met, we started off on the wrong foot didn’t we… Sorry for freaking out about you just appearing… I guess I just wasn’t paying enough attention.” She said.

“It’s… O… Okay…” The green haired girl replied shyly before slightly backing away from the double pigtailed girl.

Takane noticed this, but didn’t pursuit her.

“Hey, it was a good game, yeah?” She told the green haired girl. “And you, the smug one, it was nice meeting you there too!” She pointed towards Kano and told him before going towards where Ayano walked.

          “They are Konoha and Ene…” a revelation struck the green haired girl as she stood still in front of the tubes.

“You know them…?” Momo asked.

“Yeah, they were my sister’s friends… So was your brother actually… Huh… They were pretty close back then…” Kido reminisce.

“Wait… That means your sister must be Ayano…” The idol realized, shocked to find out the truth. She never realized this for the three months that she had been a part of the Mekakushi Dan.

“In a way yeah… Her family adopted Kano, Seto and I from an orphanage.” The leader confirmed the statement before releasing a long sigh. Sadness crawled its way onto the green haired girl as she recalled the day she found out her sister’s suicide. “Anyways we should release them.” She ordered, before tears could make their way out of her eye socket.

“Ye-” When Momo tried to acknowledge the order, a loud crash could be heard from a distant. The duo looked at each other for a moment before peaking out of the door. A corridor down, they saw a cloud of dust with a figure emerging from it.

“It’s Konoha, and he’s heading our way!” Momo whispered.

“Hide.” The leader directed. As the footstep sounded closer and closer, the duo ran to hide behind a rack that was to the right of the glass tubes.

          “Hey, here it is!” Takane yelled from within the phone.

“Yeah…” Haruka acknowledged her statement, but sounded unsure.

“What’s wrong?” The blue haired girl asked, noticing the slight tone change in the innocent boy’s voice.

“You’re gonna get your body back, so will I with my memories… I don’t know, I feel like life will be different from this point on.” He stated and glanced down onto the floor.

“It will be fine, Haruka… Let’s do this…” The digitalized girl told with a comforting voice. Her eyes beamed with hope and her arm was extended towards the boy. She wanted to lay her hands on his shoulder, but she couldn’t. She was still trapped within a machine. _Soon_ , she thought to herself.

“You’re right… Let’s just get this over with.” Haruka stated, sounding more confident than earlier.

As he opened the door and looked inside, he was faced with two large tanks with their bodies suspending in them. However, the man who they’re looking for wasn’t there.

“Ah! Don’t look, pervert!” Takane quickly yelled out as she saw her naked body in the water tank.

Her cheeks were rose red and she pushed her arms forward as to block off the boy’s view.

“Sorry!” The white haired teen apologized quickly and turned away.

“Well aren’t you two excited to see me,” a cocky voice came from in front of Haruka.

He looked up and noticed the man before him. “Tateyama…” He hissed.

“Yeah, yeah…. Let’s just get the trade over with.” The man walked past the boy and nudged him in the shoulder.

“Plug the phone into this socket,” he pointed towards a cable that was next Takane’s tube.

As Haruka approached it, he couldn’t help but feel as if this was a trap. He lay the phone onto what seemed to be the console.

“Are you certain about this?” The white haired figure asked, “This can all be a trap, Takane. I don’t want to lose you…” He stated. His concern seeped through his eyes.

The blue haired girl put on a gentle and sincere smile before telling him, “It’s going to be fine.”

Haruka rarely saw this smile from Takane. It seemed so pleasant to him. The gentle curvature that formed the smile somehow was able to calm the boy down. _I wonder if this is what it’s like for her to see me smile_ , he asked himself.

“Okay then, you ready Takane?” He asked the soon-to-be-human-again figure in the screen of the phone.

“Yeah.” She replied.

The white haired boy then gave an acknowledging nod before plugging the phone to the console. A loud shriek of agony exited the speakers, and the figure on the screen disappeared. Then the fluids in the tube slowly drained away as Takane’s body floated with the liquid. Once the pod released the transparent fluid, the glass was lifted, and the limp body of the originally digital girl fell out. Haruka quickly caught the body, before it hit the floor. He gently laid the body down on the pavement and reached for her wrist. He placed his index and middle finger on her arteries and checked for her pulse.

“She’s alive,” He breathed in relief.

“I kept my word didn’t I?” Tateyama remarked while standing next to the tube with Haruka’s body in it.

           The whole exchange was so strange to the idol and the leader. Seeing a person transfer from data to a physical being wasn’t something that they get to see everyday.

“Now, we will just wait for Konoha get his body back.” Kido whispered to Momo.

However, nothing came as a response.

“Hey Kisaragi?” She asked to confirm if the idol was still with her.

No response still.

The green haired girl then turned her head towards the orange haired girl to make sure nothing had happened to her. However, when she did turn towards the idol, she was greeted by a shocked and scared Kisaragi. She slowly raised her right hand, which was shaking, and pointed towards Kenjirou Tateyama. “He… He’s got a gun…” She whispered. “What?” Kido asked in shock before turning to see Tateyama pulling a gun from his back pocket.


	20. First

         “Now give me my memories back,” Haruka demanded. He was still uncertain about this deal.

“Hey, not so fast yeah? I mean transferring the mind from one body to another is a lot more difficult…” Kenjirou commented with a slight smug on his face. “Besides, I thought you like this body that you’re in. You were the one moaning about how your original body was weak.” He used this information against the white haired boy.

The teen stood still and gritted his teeth as a response.

“Did I anger you? Good…” The glasses wearing maniac laughed at the boy’s reaction, before pulling out a pistol from behind his back.

As Haruka saw the weapon he slightly stumbled backwards. “You were never planning to give my body and memories back… Did you?” The white haired figure asked with shock and fear, but at the same time, he couldn’t say he’s surprised.

“I guess you’re not all stupid huh? Doesn’t matter now, say goodbye!”

The words struck Haruka like snakebite. He watched as his old advisor slowly pinching in on the trigger of the gun. It was as if time had slowed down for him. He slowly closed his eyes and embraced his demise. _I’m sorry, Takane… I’m sorry that I have to leave you so soon… I love you._ He wanted to say, but all these words were trapped within his mind, not even able to make it to his throat.

Just as he was prepared for the impact, he heard someone yell, “Konoha!”

          “Commander, we have to do something! We can’t let him shoot Konoha!” The idol angrily whispered.

“What is there to do? Tateyama will probably notice us first. What if he then points the gun at us and shoots?” Kido answered, sounding distressed and sorrowful. She wanted to save the white haired figure as well.

“Doesn’t matter now, say goodbye!” The duo heard the lab coat wearing figure’s voice.

“If you’re not gonna do something, I will!” Momo yelled out before charging towards her teacher.

“Kisaragi!” the green haired girl shouted the idol’s name and tried to reach for her.

It was too late, her fingertips graced the other’s arm but weren’t able to grab onto her. She watched as the orange haired girl storm towards danger. This forced the green haired girl to reflect on her decision. _Why didn’t I try and attempt to save Kokonose? He’s a friend too isn’t he?_ She asked herself. _Did you think that was the right choice or was it because you’re just a coward?_ A voice interrogated her. _You’re a sad excuse of life Tsubomi! You’re just an afraid little bastard._ The voice kept nagging. _You are a failure as a leader, you will never fulfill the promise you’ve made to Ayano,_ the voice shouted in the back of her mind. However that statement became a catalyst. Anger and frustration rushed over the mind of the leader. _I will keep my promise…_ She told herself before rushing to aid the idol.

Momo wasn’t thinking about anything when she ran towards the man that was going to harm her friend. As she was running to tackle the man that was wielding a gun, she yelled to warn the white haired figure, “Konoha!”

“Huh?” Tateyama looked to the left of him only to see a figure crashing into him and pushing him to the ground, his gun flying to the corner of the console.

“Ugh, you little bitch… Get off of me!” He shouted.

Meanwhile Haruka was standing frozen at the scene. “Ki..saragi?” He asked.

“Kokonose, you carry Enomoto’s body and get out off here, take the elevator not far from here!” Kido’s order struck Haruka as more of a surprise.

“Ki..do? What are you guys doing here? How do you know who we are?” He asked.

“Just take Takane and run!” She shouted at him.

He quickly picked up the unconscious body of Takane and put her on his back, putting her in a piggyback position.

“How about you and Kisaragi?” He asked, concerned for the safety of the duo that just saved his life.

“Don’t worry about us, we will be right behind you.” The green haired girl said, before running towards Momo.

“Kisaragi, take this and use it and tie his wrist together,” Kido called out before taking off her sweater and tossing it to Momo.

The idol caught the piece of clothing, but the lab coated maniac pushed her off.

“You just had to ruin everything huh, Kisaragi?” He grabbed her by her collar and lifted her from the ground. “I’m sure you enjoy a good beating…” He remarked before trying to swing his fist at her.

He never had a chance to; the green haired girl had tackled him into the console, sending his side crashing into the edge of the control panel. She quickly seized the opportunity and secured his wrists around a maintenance pipe next to the console that was linked to the test chamber, before shouting at the idol,

“Quickly tie him up!” The leader ordered.

Momo quickly got back onto her feet and ran towards the green haired girl. She tied a knot around Kenjirou’s wrists and the pipe as tight as possible. “Come on, we have to get out of here fast. That’s not gonna hold him for long at all.” The green haired girl told the idol. “Yeah, okay…” She responded, and both of them ran out of the room, towards the elevator.

       “Come on, Kisaragi, just a bit more!” Kido told the orange haired idol.

The elevator was just in front of them and they could see Kokonose carrying Enomoto waiting for them to enter the metallic structure.

“I know, I’m trying,” Momo responded, she felt as if her legs were about to give out.

Her pace slowly decreased as fatigue crawled its way up the idol. The green haired girl reached the elevator first. She panted rigorously before turning around to watch the orange haired girl.

“Come Kisaragi!” She shouted, knowing that the lab coated maniac could be around the corner.

As if summoned by her mind, a taller and slender figure could be seen chasing behind Momo. A shadow loomed over the idol. She didn’t want to look back to see what was chasing her, but she knew that she had to pick up her pace. The elevator became larger and larger as she approached the metal structure. “Come on!” Kido yelled out desperately as she saw Tateyama catching up to the idol.

As the orange haired girl stepped into the elevator, she breathed a sigh of relief, “I made i- Ah!”

Her comment turned into a loud screech as a pair of arms began dragging her out of the elevator.

“Kisaragi, hold on!” The leader of the Mekakushi Dan commanded as she quickly held onto the arm of the orange haired girl.

Haruka quickly put the previously digitalized girl down on the elevator floor, before helping the green haired girl to pull the idol back into the metal structure.

“Help me, commander! Please!” Momo cried out with desperation.

She didn’t want to be taken by a crazy scientist. All she could think about was the different ways Tateyama would torture her. Pulling nails from her fingertips, trapping her in an electric chair, locking her in an isolation chamber until she gradually turns insane were just some of things that came across the idol’s mind.

“I’m trying!” Kido responded to the pleading girl.

However, a sudden shot of pain went through the green haired girl’s damaged arm causing her to let go of her grip slightly. That was all the possessed teacher needed to drag Momo out of the elevator.

“No!” The leader screamed, the momentum sending her to the hard steel floor.

The elevator doors shut while Haruka and Kido watched helplessly as a screaming and crying Momo getting dragged away into the abyss of the laboratory.

“Kisaragi! God damn it!” The leader screamed as she punched the metallic doors. “I have to go back…” She decided and got back up on to her feet.

“What, no! Who knows what the lunatic had planned? He could set a trap just to get you too!” Haruka warned the younger girl.

“I’m not about to leave my friend down there with some psychopath that would torture and kill her!” Kido snapped back at the white haired figure.

“She’s my friend too! But that doesn’t mean we will just throw ourselves into danger all the time.” The boy retaliated.

“You can go to safety with Enomoto, but I’m going back down. I can’t just leave her to die…” The green haired girl had her mind set and no one would be able to change it.

Knowing that he wouldn’t be able to break the stubbornness of his leader, Haruka picked up Takane’s body and waited for the elevator door to open. “Fine… Just stay safe down there yeah?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Kido responded. As the doors slide open, the white haired figure turned his head around and remarked, “You know you still hadn’t told me how you knew our names.”

“I will explain after,” the green haired girl responded, before pressing the button for the basement. The circular button lit up and the elevator door shut in front of the determined leader.

       As Kido step off of the little metal structure, she immediately started searching. She didn’t know where to look for the orange haired girl, but it didn’t matter to her. All that it mattered was that she needed to find her alive. Turning from corner to corner, and searched from room to room, the leader just couldn’t seem to be able to find her most loyal member.

“Where are you, Kisaragi?” She muttered under her breath.

It felt like she had searched the entire floor already, but still no sign of the idol. _Two more turns and I should be back at the elevator…_ She told herself, reminding her of how many circles she had been going in. Like how she had predicted, as soon as she turned the corner, she saw the same lonely metallic structure. Kido was slowing losing hope that she was ever going to find her friend. Suddenly a muffled noise can be heard from a distance, echoing through the halls.

“Kisaragi?” Kido asked, the hope that was wilting blossomed again.

She ran towards the direction where the echo came from. After searching for what felt like hours, she finally found the idol. In front of her was an empty room with the orange haired girl lying in the center, her mouth was taped shut and her arms and legs were tied up. As she saw her commander, she started to shout. The tape in front of her mouth muffled what she was saying and all could be made out was her worried expression.

Kido quickly walked to her side to try and comfort her, “It’s okay, Kisaragi, I’m going to get you out of here.” She said before removing the tape off of Momo’s mouth.

“Behind you!” the orange haired girl shouted at her commander.

“Huh?” A sudden realization hit the leader, but it came to late.

As she turned around, a long metal pipe struck the side of her head, sending her flying. She fell onto her side and she could feel blood trickling down from underneath her green silky hair. Kido could feel her consciousness slipping away, but still stood up and tried to put up a fight.

“Still got plenty of fight in you huh? I can help with that.” Tateyama grinned, while holding the metallic cylinder.

Before the green haired girl could even put up any resistance, the pipe came swinging into her abdomen. Blood spilled out of her mouth. It ran down her chin and stained the red collared-shirt she was wearing. She kneeled onto the ground with her arms out in front of her, holding her up. She watched red liquid hit the pavement underneath her, tainting it with a dark red colouration. In the distance, she could hear the idol pleading for Kenjirou to stop.

“Please! Stop hurting her, I beg you!” Momo yelled.

These words didn’t matter to the lab coat-wearing maniac. He lifted the metal pipe above his head and came striking down onto Kido’s back. She screamed in pain before rolling over onto her back. Her breath sounded rushed and the only sound she was making was the grunts and moans from the pain. She didn’t know if the hit had broken any of her bones, but she was certain it didn’t break her spine. The maniac stood tall besides the powerless and wounded leader. He put on a sickening grin before smashing the pipe down across her chest. Ribs could be heard snapping. More blood was spat out from the impact and slowly trickled down her mouth onto the white coloured floor. The red liquid started to travel down her throat and began choking the girl. The more she coughed the more blood can be seen projected out of her mouth. Kido knew that she was mortally wounded; she could feel her vision blur and her eyelids feeling heavy as her conscious floated in and out. She slowly rolled back onto her chest despite the pain, to avoid more liquid entering her lungs. Slight grunts could be heard of Kido.

“I still have plenty planned for you, don’t die yet.” Her possessed father commented, before repeatedly beating her with the metal pipe.

With each hit from the deadly weapon, the green haired girl could feel her life draining away from her. She knew she was going to die on this night.

         “Aw, looks like you’re going to die soon if you don’t get treated… I was just beginning to have some fun. I’m sure, what’s her name, would love the pictures of your corpse after I send them to her.” Tateyama smiled before reaching for his gun, which he picked up after dropping it in the lab. “You will help me live forever…” He whispered.

“You sick freak!” Momo suddenly yelled out.

The lab coat-wearing figure shrugged off the insult, and took aim at the broken Kido. Little did he know, the idol was on her feet. She used all her might and jumped into her teacher, knocking him over.

“Why do you always have to be such a hassle?” He asked Momo before pushing her off. “That was a pathetic excuse of an attack. I guess I have no use for you now either, so let me just finish you off, too…” He remarked before firing a bullet into the abdomen of the idol.

Momo yelped in pain as the bullet traveled into her body, creating a hole in her organs.

“Does it hurt? How about another one?” The psychopathic maniac asked, before lifting her shirt and pushing the gun into the orange haired girl’s skin and pulling the trigger. Screams echoed the entire facility as she felt the bullet shredding through her tissue. A sickening feeling of flesh tearing could be felt from the shot as well as the creation of another hole inside her organs. Blood oozed out of Momo’s abdomen and quickly stained her blue t-shirt. With her hands still tied behind together, there was no way for her slow the bleeding.

Kido was still lying on the floor, motionless, her breathing was shallow, but deep. Her body can be seen raising and falling with each breath she took. She knew she was going to die. Thoughts of regrets and sorrow hit her first. She wished that she could have spent more time with the members of the Dan, especially with Kano and Seto. They had been together since the beginning and she wished that she hadn’t treated them like garbage in the orphanage. Maybe trying to act tough wasn’t something that she should have taken so seriously. Thinking about Kano, she never had a chance to confess to him what she really felt. She knew that she loved him and that she would do anything to see him again, even if it was just one last moment. Tears flowed out of her tear ducts as she lied silently on the floor with blood seeping from her mouth and her head. She heard faint gun shot in the distance, even though it was right in front of her. _He must have killed Kisaragi… Poor girl… She had so much to live for…_ Kido thought to herself. She was preparing for death. She knew that there wasn’t much she could do now besides waiting for her impending doom. Then something struck her. _I’m the leader of the Dan… I’m the leader of everyone… I can’t… I can’t give up now. That’s not what a leader is like, I’m sure Ayano would be disappointed if she saw me like this… You’re pathetic, Tsubomi. You need to get up and save that innocent girl! She’s a member of the Mekakushi Dan and more importantly your friend. Go save her…_ She told herself. As she began to gather energy to move her limbs, another gunshot went off, and this time a loud scream followed. As the scream entered the eardrums of the green haired girl and the signal of the scream was sent to her brain, a wave of energy shot through the leader. She slowly stood up, ignoring all the aches that course through her body.

“Huh, You’re not dead ye-” Kenjirou started but was immediately cut off by the adrenaline filled punch to the side of his face.

“Still pack a punch huh?” He was about to let out a remark.

Kido however, didn’t care about his response. She walked towards him and picked his head up by his collar and repeatedly striking his face until blood tricked down from his nose and mouth. One part of her felt horrible as she had just punched her father, but at the same time, she knew that this wasn’t the man who had raised her, Kano, and Seto. No words were ever exchanged between the green haired figure and the lab coat-wearing snake. As she laid his unconscious body down on the floor, she walked towards Momo, who looked extremely pale.

“Kisaragi, stay with me here.” She commanded the idol.

“Kido, you’re alive… I’m… so… happy…” Kisaragi was about to say.

“Yeah, I’m going to get you out of here…” Kido told the girl as she put pressure on the bleeding wounds.

“Thank you… Kido…” She responded quietly.

“Don’t call me that… You’re not dying here today Kisaragi.”

The leader scolded her wounded friend. Tears then rolled down the dying girl.

“Tell me the truth… Kido… Am I… Going to… make it?” She asked, her voice shaking.

Kido looked at the orange haired girl with eyes of dread, before looking away.

“You will survive.” She lied. The truth was laid in front of the green hair girl, but she refused to believe it.

“Kido… Truth…” Momo demanded.

“I don’t know… you might… You… yeah, you will… I’m sorry.” the leader reluctantly responded.

There was a moment of silence between the two but it wasn’t long until the idol broke the silence. She started bawling. Tears flowed out of her eyes like rivers. “Kido… I… I don’t want to die yet…!” She cried out. “I thought I was ready, but I’m not… I don’t want to die! I want to see you and the rest of the Dan again… Please, I don’t want to die… I want to see my brother again…” She pleaded in between sobs.

“Kisaragi, stop it, I will get you out of here, okay?” Kido assured the orange haired girl.

“Stop it Kido, you’re not helping! You knew I’m going to die… I feel so cold now… I want it to stop Kido… Why can’t I feel warmer? Please… I just want to see the Dan one more time… I want to say goodbye to them… Especially my brother…” Kisaragi’s crying became minimal, her energy was depleting as her life drained away from her.

Kido couldn’t contain the tears that were welled up in her eye, they poured down her cheeks with the mixture of blood came from her forehead.

“Don’t… I’m sorry…” she replied.

“It’s okay Kido… I… Just don’t… want to leave… yet…” Momo was able to say. Her vision was fading slowly and she didn’t feel as cold.

“Kisaragi? Stay with me…” Kido told the girl.

Little did she know those words that Kisaragi had said would be her last. Tsubomi felt Momo’s body relax. Her eyes gazed at towards the ceiling.

“Kisaragi?” Kido shook the body as she asked. “Kisaragi…”

She knew the girl lying in front of her had passed away. Her body twitched as she let herself go. The green haired girl cried out loud, with no one to witness her emotions. She all of a sudden felt lonely and regretful. _Was it all worth it?_ She asked herself. _Would it have changed anything if I just lied down on the floor and waited for my death?_ She struggled to find the answer to this question. As the adrenaline died down, the pain returned, except her heartache surpassed any of the physical pain that she had felt. A maniacal laughter echoed in the room as the unconscious body of Tateyama was awoken.

“You didn’t even make a difference, what did it matter? You should have just left that stupid prick to die by herself-” The man couldn’t finish his sentence as he noticed that the green haired girl was holding the gun he was carrying.

She aimed down the sight at what was her father.

“Don't you wish she would come back?” He asked, smiling with a devious grin.

“Shut up.” Kido warned.

“You do, don’t you… ” The voice controlling Tateyama said.

The enraged Kido placed her index finger onto the trigger. However, her stance started to wobble.

“Oh, what’s wrong? Right, you’re still dying. Don’t tell me your had forgotten that.” The lab coat-wearing maniac remarked.

The green haired felt weak. Her hands released the gun and the heavy metallic weapon fell onto the ground. Her legs then proceeded to give out on her. As she kneeled onto the ground, she faintly saw Tateyama walk up to her. He held her up by her throat and squeezed her thin neck. As more and more pressure was applied, Kido could feel her life draining away. She tried to struggle out of the grasp of Tateyama, but the injuries and lack of oxygen forced her to go limp. Slowly she stopped struggling and her eyes rolled back. Faint heartbeats that could be felt in her neck were the only thing that was still keeping her alive. As the sadistic snake was going to make the father end his daughter’s life, a sudden bang rung throughout the facility. On the side of the wall was a massive hole with a figure through it.

     “Let her go.” Haruka threatened.


	21. Aftermath

           “Let her go.” Haruka threatened while standing in the middle of the hole in the wall that he created.

Silence is what ensued. The unsettling quietness shrouded the atmosphere. As the possessed Tateyama processed what had just happened, a sickening grin appeared on his devilish face.

“Why should I do that?” the voice of the possessed rose while still holding the motionless child by her neck.

The eyes of the white haired figure eerily glowed. He quickly launched himself at his old advisory teacher, knocking him to the floor. Kido’s body dropped onto the floor, creating a loud thud as it did. She was lying on her stomach. Her breath was shallow and ragged with blood still flowing out of her mouth due to the internal damage she had received. Her body slight twitched every time her blood enters her lungs. The boy grabbed Tateyama by the collar and lifted him up.

“This power suits you doesn’t it? Don’t forget who gave it to you.” He warned, wanting to provoke the teen.

Haruka’s expression didn’t change from his stoic look. He raised his fist and punched the man in the cheek sending the body fly across the room, rendering him unconscious. Haruka then turned his attention to his friends. He first turned to Momo. He rushed to her side to examine her damage. However, to his dismay, her body was cold and motionless. The idol’s usual vibrant colour, now dull and dark, her always attentive gaze had become nothing but a hollow stare. Her eyes fixated to the ceiling with tear stains still visible on her cheeks. The white haired boy couldn’t bear to witness what was in front of him. He gritted his teeth before letting out a small grunt. He can feel warm liquid flowing freely out of his eyes. “Damn it…” He sobbed. Despite this, he tried to keep his composure and put his palm on her eyelids and closed them. He could feel headaches setting in, but he ignored them. Memories of the lively idol flooded his vision. He slowly was starting to remember her when he first met her. He remembered the argument she had with her brother during a call. How she didn’t want him to be her brother anymore. How she then hosted a gaming context that him and Shintaro both joined. He remembered her delighted expression when her brother won the tournament for her, so she can have an octopus plushy. “You stupid idiot, why do you only remember now?” He cursed himself for regaining his memories so late. As he slowly wiped away his tears, he took off his white, long sleeved shirt and gently laid it on top of Momo.

Haruka then got up from the floor and walked towards the green haired girl. Her body was slumped on the floor, her forehead was still covered in blood. The mark left by the red liquid could be seen running from underneath her hair down to her chin. Haruka couldn’t help but feel sick at the sight. _The amount of brutalizing she must have taken for this much blood and bruises to occur…_ he thought to himself. He gently kneeled besides her body, thinking that she was dead. “I’m so sorry, Kido… I couldn’t have saved you…” He told her in a gentle but sorrowful voice. Just as all hope seemed lost, the green haired girl’s body suddenly twitched. Haruka, startled by the sudden motion, gasped. A realization hit he as he witnessed her twitch. “She’s still alive…” Haruka whispered to himself. He felt somewhat of a relief to know that someone had survived. However, he couldn’t keep his guard down. He knew that if Kido doesn’t receive any medical attention fast, he would lose her too. The white haired figure quickly picked her up, and started to rush out of the horrid laboratory.

*          *          *

            Kano was going to stop Momo from going after Kido, but he was stopped by Shintaro.

“Just let her do what she want,” he stated, “You can’t really stop her after she makes up her mind anyways.”

“Aren’t you afraid something might happen?” the liar asked, concerned for both members’ safeties.

“I trust her that she will take care of herself.” The jersey-wearing teen replied before stating, “Anyways it’s been a long day, I think I will just go back to the base for some rest…”

“Don’t you want to visit Seto and Marry before you go?” Hibiya asked.

“I’m sure they will understand,” Shintaro replied, before waving goodbye.

            The truth is, Shintaro was going to sneak into his old school. He had been doing it for a considerable amount of time already. After all, it’s one place that he knew _she_ would be at. He found the hole in the fence near the tennis court that no one seemed to ever fix and walked into the school grounds. As he entered the school building, the aroma of the halls filled his nostrils.

“Still the same old oak smell, huh?” He commented as he walked past the shoe lockers, and up the stairs.

Once he reached the roof, he climbed over the safety barrier and onto a small ledge. He sat down on the tiny space with his legs dangling off the building.

“You know, it’s been so long since you passed, and yet I still come here, expecting to see you…” Shintaro started.

_“Well, you’re not wrong, I am still here.” The voice of Ayano appeared from behind him. “But I also know, that you wouldn’t come here unless something really is bothering you”._

“Nightmares.” Is the reply that the jersey-wearing teen gave.

_“Nightmares? I can’t believe you’re bothered by some nightmares.” Ayano chuckled before sitting down next to Shintaro._

“It’s not just any nightmares… I kept dreaming that everyone around me…”

_“Dying?” the long dark haired girl finished the sentence for him._

“Yeah… And I’m afraid that these aren’t just dreams, but premonitions.” _He told her_.

_“Well, I’m sure that they…” Ayano paused, before replying with a creep smile, “That they are premonitions.”_

“What?” Shintaro was surprised by the answer. “What do you mean?” He asked.

_“You are the one that let her run off by yourself… Now she’s going to die, just like in your dreams. She and the rest of the Mekakushi Dan will die, like I did… Just like you will…” The face of Ayano morphed into something more devious._

The jersey wearing teen was confused and enraged by the statement. “How could you say that?” He asked, while gritting his teeth. The statement made him feel betrayed. He would have never expected Ayano to act this way, and nevertheless telling him that everyone is going to die.

_“We’re all just pawns in a game, Shintaro. Eventually, one king is going to defeat another and win. And I don’t think that’s us.” The red scarfed girl replied still with a sickening wide grin on her face._

“What is any of this suppose to mean? Stop talking in riddles and just tell me what the hell is going on! These aren’t just nightmares aren’t they? They are real?” Before he could get an answer, the girl disappeared on him. “Ayano!” He yelled, hoping that she would come back. However, the only thing that returned was the echo of his scream. Shintaro pushed his head into his palm, “What am I doing? She died two years ago…” Sweat beads still formed on his forehead despite him knowing the encounter happened all in his head. “She’s not real… She’s not real… Everything she said was just apart of my own paranoia…” He tried to remind himself. Something was nagging him however; something in his gut tells him that even though this was just his paranoia talking, he should go back to the hospital. “I… I need to head back…” He concluded to himself, before climbing back over the fence to the roof and heading back to the hospital.

*          *          *

            The harsh autumn wind blew at the white haired figure as he soared through the sky, but he didn’t care, he just wanted his friend to survive. _Hang on Kido, just a bit more…_ He wanted to say. He looked down slightly to see the unconscious girl. Her face looked peaceful, but Haruka knew that she was suffering on the inside; all the bruises and blood on her body along with the tearstains on her cheeks signified it. Once he had spotted the hospital, he started to decline. He made sure to land as softly as possible to avoid further damage to the green haired girl. As his feet touched the ground, he immediately started to run for the emergency department.

The moment Haruka entered the building, concerned and terrified looks were shot at his direction, but he knew they weren’t for him, but his friend. He could hear some nurses paging for doctors to treat Kido.

“Here dear, just lay her here.” One of the nurses instructed while gesturing towards the soft stretcher that was being rolled towards them.

Haruka didn’t give an audible answer, but just nodded for response. He put her on the soft material gently, making sure that her head was on the pillow and none of her limbs were sticking out.

“We will take care of her from here on, you just wait in this room okay? We will call for you.” The same nurse said.

Haruka nodded again for response. He sat on the bench that was closest to the emergency room and sighed. His body slouched forward and his gazed facing the floor. Images of the night’s event were still playing out vividly in his head.

“Ah…” He suddenly remembered, “I left Takane by herself…”

He wanted to punch himself for being so careless and forgetting about Takane. Annoyed, he rummaged his fingers through his hair, before standing up and heading to the entrance. However, he didn’t need to leave. Before him, on the other side of the automated glass doors, was a shorter skinny figure. She was dressed in the black oversized hoodie and the knee length skirt that he picked out for her. On the other side stood Takane, who visibly had tears in her eyes. When she saw white haired figure, those tears that had welled up in her eyes slowly poured down. She ran into the hospital and into Haruka. She hugged onto the teen and stuffed her face into his warm body.

“I thought you… you…” She could barely make out.

“It’s okay, Takane, it’s okay…” The white haired figure comforted.

“You bastard! You left me in the cold classroom all naked! You idiot, you idiot, you idiot!” As if the personality of the double pig tailed girl had completely changed, she was now furious and hitting Haruka repeated the chest.

“Hey, ow… Sorry…” The white haired teen responded.

That didn’t stop Takane however; she kept hitting him with all her might. “I thought you died…” She finally said, before stopping.

“I’m sorry…” The white haired boy kept apologizing.

“Anyways… I see that you didn’t get your body back… I’m guessing your memories…” The hoodie wearing girl commented with a saddened voice.

“Yeah… I still don’t have my memories back…” Haruka confirmed.

“How about your shirt? Did someone steal it or something?” Takane asked in a joking manner, trying to brighten the mood.

“Oh… That… Takane… After you passed out, Tateyama pulled a gun on me and tried to kill me… But turned out Kido and Kisaragi was there… Things then…” The one in the black hoodie started feeling nervous. She had a bad feeling about what Haruka was going to say next. “Takane… Kisaragi didn’t make it…” He finished and looked away from the girl.

The words hit Takane hard. She didn’t know how to react. Momo was a good friend of both hers and Haruka’s and they both acted as if they were her older siblings when Shintaro wasn’t around. The memories of spending time with the idol flashed before her eyes.

“How? How did she die?” The double pigtailed girl asked with a monotone voice.

“She was shot…” The boy replied.

“Did she die instantly from the impact?” The other asked.

“I don’t know…” Was the only answer Haruka knew to give.

“Oh.” The short answer ended the conversation between the two teens.

Didn’t want silence to bestow upon him again, the white haired teen started, “We should sit near the emergency room to wait for Kido… She was also badly injured.” He turned around and headed for the bench.

“It’s all my fault…” Takane suddenly said.

This forced Haruka to turn around and look at the hoodie wearing teen.

“It’s all my fault!” She repeated.

The white haired boy noticed that the other teen was crying. Her hands tightened into fists and she gritted her teeth.

“Takane… It’s not your –” Haruka began but was cut off.

“I… I need some time alone…” She replied before storming out of the hospital.

“Wait!” The boy yelled out, his arm reached out for the girl, but she already ran away. “Takane…” He said.

            The pigtailed girl ran out of the hospital without looking back. She didn’t have any idea on where she’s going, but she just wanted to run away. The tears in her eyes blurred her vision; her world was nothing but a hazy mess of colours. _It’s all my fault…_ kept repeating in her head, and each time it was said the volume gets louder. _It’s all because of your selfishness…_ The voices nagged. _It’s because of you wanting to turn back to a human being that caused this._ More voices joined. “Shut up!” Takane yelled out. However, her cry was quickly drowned out by a bright set of lights and a loud horn. The pig tailed girl stood still in the middle of traffic like a deer in the headlights. The car that was to the right of Takane screeched for a stop, but the momentum overcame the breaks sending the car colliding into her. Her body tumbled from the hood of the car to the trunk. The driver got out of the car to check on the injured girl.

“Hey, you okay there?” She picked up the hoodie wearing girl and shook her slightly. Blood flowed down from Takane’s nose, she also had some scratches on her cheeks that was bleeding. She was dazed; everything in her vision was like how they were when she had tears in her eyes. Every sound that she could hear sounded far.

“What…? What happened?” She asked.

“You were just standing there in the middle of traffic, and I didn’t stop fast enough. Do you need me to bring you to the hospital?” The lady asked.

“Um… I’m… I’m fine.” The pig tailed girl replied while slowly getting back up onto her feet.

“Are you sure? You look pretty shaken up?” The female driver asked with concern.

“Yeah… I’m okay…” Takane replied in a slightly quiet voice before walking off.

As she continued into the night, she walked into a tiny little alleyway and sat down. She pushed her face into her palms and started crying.

“Careless, selfish…” She said in between her sobs.

Suddenly she felt something around her ankles. She lifted her palms off her face and saw a black cat next to her. The cat looked curious. It meowed softly at the hoodie wearing teen. She didn’t know what to do at first, so she just watched it. The cat didn’t seem to want to go away, it kept circling around the girl.

“What are you doing here?” Takane asked, “Why are you just circling me?” The cat meowed as a response, which made the girl chuckle slightly. She gently petted the furry creature on the top of its head.

“You’re cute…” She told the cat.

She tried to pick the cat up, but right as she was going for it, the furry little creature ran away.

“Oh… I’m sorry…” A voice came round the corner.

A tall slender figure walked into the alleyway.

“Haruka?” Takane asked, realising that the figure was the white haired boy.

“Hi… Sorry for scaring the cat.” He commented before sitting down next to the girl.

“How did you find me?” the hoodie wearing girl asked. “I went and tried to search for you. Then suddenly I heard your voice around the corner.” He responded and turned his head to look at Takane.

When he looked at her, he noticed the scratches on the side of her face as well as a slightly disjointed nose.

“Takane? What happened?” He asked, immediately concerned for his friend’s safety.

“Oh… Um, it’s nothing… Don’t worry about it.” Takane replied.

“No, something happened. Don’t lie.” The white haired boy commanded while staring into the other’s eyes.

“I got distracted and got ran over by a car…” The pig tailed girl answered.

“Takane!” Haruka yelled, “Why didn’t you head straight back to the hospital, come on, you will need a medical checkup.”

He grabbed the girl’s waist and picked her up before started to run back to the hospital. Takane didn’t know what to say, her gaze focused on the white haired teen. _Thank you for caring…_ She wanted to say, but decided against it.

            As soon as they returned to the hospital, Haruka forced Takane to sign up for an X-ray check up to make sure she didn’t fracture any ribs, and nothing too severe happened.

“You know you can’t just stay here, you still need to wait for the announcement for Kido.” Takane told Haruka.

“I should, but I want to make sure that you’re okay too.” He replied.

“Seriously, you don’t have to come with me,” the black haired girl replied.

“I insist.” The teen in the black t-shirt replied.

“Is the relative or friends of Tsubomi Kido here?” Suddenly a nurse called out.

Takane tilted her head towards the nurse’s direction, signaling Haruka to go there.

“Fine, but tell me exactly the checkup results.” The white haired teen told the other, before heading off to check on the status of Kido.

“Um… Hi, I’m Tsubomi Kido’s friend.” The teen reported to the nurse.

“Where have you been? We have been calling you. Your friend, Kido, is losing blood fast, but we don’t have supply for a B type blood with Rh negative. This means we need a donor. Do you perhaps have a B Rh negative blood type?”

The nurse explained the situation to Haruka. The white haired teen understood the urgency of the situation, however, he couldn’t remember what his blood type was no matter how hard he tried.

“I… I don’t remember my blood type…” He responded, quieter than usual.

“We can run a blood test on you, but it would be faster if maybe a relative nearby or a friend have the same blood type as her.” The nurse suggested.

Gears started to turn in the teen’s head.

“I will be back!” He told the nurse.

He ran as fast as possible to where Takane was. He opened the operating X-ray room, and yelled out, “Takane, what blood type do you have?”

The pig-tailed girl was caught by surprise while trying to put her clothes back on.

“Ah! Haruka, what the hell?” she scolded.

“This is urgent, Takane, what is your blood type?” Haruka repeated.

“Um… AB if I remembered correctly…” Takane replied, covering herself with the lump of clothes.

“Damn it…” The white haired boy cursed under his breath before leaving.

“You want to explain to me what’s going on?” the pig tailed girl asked.

By this time, Haruka was already out of the hospital. His eyes turned red and he ran towards the hospital in which everyone else from the Mekakushi Dan was at.

            “Tch, where is everyone?” Hibiya commented, his hands placed behind his head.

“I don’t know, but I’m worried…” Kano remarked.

“Kano, you need to relax a bit more. I mean I’m sure that they are okay. Anyways, you wanna check if Seto’s hospital room is unlocked now?” the younger teen reassured the blonde boy.

Kano did as he was requested and tried to turn the knob on Seto’s hospital room.

“It’s still locked…” He told the vest-wearing boy.

“What is Marry doing inside? She kicked us out of the room, saying that she needed sometime alone with Seto, but it’s been hours.” Hibiya said sounding slightly annoyed.

“Yeah, I’m worried about that too…” Kano responded.

“You’re worried about everything… You know, I feel like you’re slowly turning into our boss.” The brown haired boy made an off hand remark.

Suddenly, the two heard rushed footsteps and heavy breathing coming from around the corner. At the relief and dismay of both members, it was just Konoha.

“You’re back… Where’s the rest of the gang?” Kano asked.

“No… No time to explain… What blood type do both of you have?” The white haired boy asked.

“Um… I have type AB.” Hibiya answered.

“Type B.” Kano replied right after.

“Kano, type B positive or negative?” Konoha followed up with his initial question.

“Negative, I think…” Suddenly the dots connected in the mind of the liar.

“Something happened didn’t it? What is it? Who needs blood? Is everyone okay?” With each question he asked he raised his volume louder.

“Yes, something terrible happened, but right now we don’t have time. Kido is going to die if I don’t get you there…” The white haired boy told the liar with a serious tone that was able to kill any mood.

“Take me there now, then you have to tell me everything that happened.” Kano demanded.

“Yeah, no problem.” Konoha agreed.

However, before any of them can leave the hallway, another set of rushed footsteps came around the corner. This time it’s Shintaro.

“Konoha… You’re back… Wait, where’s everyone else?” He asked with a ragged breath.

“I don't have time to explain, just… come with me too!” Konoha didn’t know what other response he could’ve given without wasting more time.

After the three exited the hospital, Konoha grasped both of them by the waist and activated his power. He leapt into the air and soared through the sky to reach to their destination.

            Konoha tried to land as softly as possible so the two teens in his arm wouldn’t get harmed before running towards the entrance of the hospital. He quickly found the nurse that delivered the news to him and pushed Kano towards her.

“He is a friend of Kido’s, and he has the same blood type.” He told her.

“Oh, that’s great news, we will take him to the blood donation area.” The nurse took Kano and led him away.

“You’re gonna tell me what the hell is happening?” Shintaro’s voice came from behind Konoha.

He turned around and saw the expression on the other teen’s face. The eyes of the jersey wearing teen glared at the white haired teen with worriedness and anger. His hands clenched into fists.

“Let’s go to somewhere a bit more quiet…” Konoha told him. “How about you just tell me right now…” The boy threatened.

“I think it will be better if we do find somewhere with less people…” The white haired teen tried to convince Shintaro.

“Konoha… What happened? Why does Kido need a blood donation urgently? Where is my sister?” Shintaro asked in a threatening voice.

Konoha realized that there was no way he could convince the jersey wearing teen to go somewhere more secluded. He sighed before starting,

“We… Ene and I lied… We didn’t go on a date of any sorts, but to a secret meeting, a meeting that had to do with our lives. You see, we’re not who-” Konoha wanted to continue, but Shintaro stopped him.

“Skip the bullshit, I just want to know what happened.” The jersey wearing teen demanded.

The white haired boy knew there was no way of dragging this on, so he continued, “Ene and I went to our old school, to try and get our bodies and memories back, but turns out, it was all a trap… Kido and Kisaragi saved me from getting shot by Tateyama, our old advisory teacher.”

_Tateyama? Advisor?_ Shintaro thought, pieces of puzzle started to fit together in his head.

However, any sort of revelation was dropped as soon as Shintaro heard what Konoha had to tell him next.

“After saving me… Well… your sister got captured and Kido went to save her.” The white haired boy kept explaining.

“Konoha… Don’t you tell me… ” The black haired teen knew where this was heading, but he refuse to acknowledge it.

“Shintaro… I… I don’t know how to put this…”

_Don’t you dare say it..._ Shintaro wanted to say.

“Shintaro, Momo is dead… I’m sorry… I’m so sor-” Konoha couldn’t finish his apologies as it was interrupted by a punch to the side of his cheek that send him to the floor.

“Momo… is… Dead?” Shintaro said in a disjointed sentence.

“I’m sorry Shintaro… I really am…” the white haired boy kept apologizing.

However, this only brought the jersey wearing teen into a more enraged state. Tears flowed out of his eye socket as he remembered his nightmares, and his conversation with Ayano. He gritted his teeth and clutched onto the fallen boy’s black shirt collar.

“You bastard! Couldn’t you have saved her?” He asked, voice shaken with rage and sadness.

“I’m sorry Shintaro! I really am… I should’ve got there sooner.” Konoha kept apologizing.

“Then why didn’t you? I should have never trusted you in the first place!” As soon as Shintaro finished his sentence, he struck another fist down at the fallen teen.

Then an onslaught of punches ensued, as Konoha’s face turned from pale white to shades of dark red. Some blood trickled down from his cut open bottom lip.

“You’re dead to me! You understand that? Dead!” Shintaro shouted. Suddenly in a distance, Shintaro heard a voice calling out to him.

“Shintaro stop!” The familiar feminine voice called out.

He then felt a pair of arms reaching him from behind and pulling him away.

“Let me go!” He yelled out, before escaping the hold that was applied to him by the girl.

As he turned around to face the person who was stopping him, his expression changed. Standing in front of him was someone who he had assumed to be missing. The pig tailed, hoodie wearing, Takane Enomoto was standing in front of Shintaro with a clear sign of worriedness and fear in her eyes.

“Eno… Enomoto?” He asked quietly.

He hadn’t seen the pig tailed girl ever since the day Ayano and Haruka had both died. A small ray of happiness shot through him.

“Shintaro, you idiot! The person you’re hitting is Haruka, why didn’t you notice?” Takane revealed to Shintaro.

The jersey-wearing boy stood speechlessly. He stared at the pig-tailed girl with an expression mixed with emotions. He felt his body getting warmer as the confusion and annoyance clawed away at him.

“What?” He was able to make out between his harsh breathing.

His hands pulled on his hair, not knowing what to think about this whole night. “Shintaro… Haruka never died on that day, his consciousness was transferred to another body... It’s all the work of Tateyama, Shintaro. He is the one who killed your sister. He is responsible. Now just calm down…” Takane told the black haired teen while putting her hands in front with the palms open.

However, that didn’t help the boy in the situation at all. He kneeled to the floor and sobbed with his hands clutching onto the pant legs.

“What the hell is with today…” He spoke out. “Momo wanted today to be an enjoyable day for the gang… And now…” He continued whilst moving his arm to his eyes, trying to wipe away the constant stream of tears that never seemed to stop.

A tap on his shoulder made him look up. Through his blurred vision, he could see Haruka’s figure, standing over him. “I’m sorry Shintaro… I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything. I’m sorry for leading your sister to her end… I didn’t mean to, I swear…” The white haired figure said.

Shintaro stared at him for an extended period of time. “You… Why didn’t you tell me who you are?” He asked between his sobs.

“I didn’t know who I was…” Haruka answered with his gaze fixated on the floor, looking ashamed.

“I’m sorry…” Shintaro started to apologize, “I’m sorry for being paranoid about you… I was… I was just trying to protect my sister…” As he finished his apology, he began weeping once more.

Memories of Momo came back to the jersey-wearing boy. He hated himself for not stopping her when she offered to follow Kido. He hated himself for not bidding her a proper farewell before she died. He hated himself for not being there when she was dying and suffering. He hated himself for everything. A voice that had been nagging in the back of his mind grew louder and louder.

_“Useless… Can’t even protect your own sister. Now she’s dead because of you. Are you proud of yourself yet?” The voice spoke_.

Shintaro tried his best to ignore it, but it was getting louder.

_“There was so much more she could have done! She had so much to live for! Not you… You’re unless. You’re a good for nothing NEET who doesn’t do anything but staying in his room. You are the one who deserved to die!” The harsh tongue of the voice kept beating the jersey-wearing teen._

“Shut up! Just shut up! Shut up!” Shintaro yelled out while covering his ears. “Just leave me alone!”

Sudden he felt a hand grabbed onto his shoulder. As if it was instinct, he reached for the wrist and held onto it tightly before turning around to see who it was.

“Ow… Shintaro, calm down…” Takane grunted from the pain that was shot from her wrist.

“I… I’m sorry…” He apologized and got up from the floor. He slowly approached a bench before sitting down on it with his gaze never removing from the ground.

Takane observed Shintaro’s behavior and the memories of Shintaro yelling in the bathroom several months ago flooded her mind. Despite her attitude towards the jersey-wearing teen, she still cared about him.

As she was deep in her thought, a voice sudden came from behind the pig-tailed girl, “What happened?”

“Ah!” She screamed in surprise before realising it was just Kano.

“Shintaro is just going through a tough time right now.” Takane explained.

“Is it because of something that happened tonight?” The blonde haired boy asked with a regretful tone.

“Yeah, I guess it’s time for you to get caught up.” The pig tailed girl suggested.

            The hospital room was dark and quiet. The only sound that was audible was the noise projected by the air con. Then suddenly the sheet that was covering Seto began to ruffle. He grunted slightly, before slowly opening his eyes. “Huh, where am I?” He asked, before scanning around the room. “Oh… a hospital…That would make sense…” He concluded before touching the back of his head. “Ow.” He grunted from the pain. “Damn, I wonder how bad is it…” He asked himself before sitting up right. As he was moving into a comfortable sitting position, he accidentally bumped into something. He looked towards the direction of what he bumped into. What he saw was Marry, having her head in between her arms, lying on the side of the bed. “Marry.” He called out quietly. He smiled slightly, knowing that the white haired girl fell asleep looking after him. He reached to the side to see if there was a small table that had his belongings in it. _Where is it? Ah, there_. He commented as he found his phone. However, when he tried to turn it on, the phone didn’t seem to be working before realising, _I fell into the ocean with it… Gotta turn on the light then. Can’t see much._ Seto thought. After getting off the bed slowly, he put his hands on the wall to feel for a light switch. “Ah there…” He said as he turned on the lights.

As the light flickered on, he was able to see the pure and innocent girl clearer. She was lying peacefully by the side of the bed. The injured teen smiled slightly at the white haired girl’s cuteness. However, something felt off for him. Slowly, he approached her. “Marry?” He called out quietly, while shaking her slightly to awake the girl from her slumber. The medusa gave no response, which made Seto worry. He kneeled down beside her and examined the white haired girl. “What the?” He let out, as he saw her face. Marry’s cheeks and neck were scaly, resembling a snake. “Hey, Marry, wake up!” Seto raised his voice while shaking the white haired girl vigorously. This forced Marry to slightly open her eyes. To Seto’s surprise she had red slit pupils instead of her normal round pupils.

“Se… to?” She asked, sounding very weak.

“Marry! Marry, what’s wrong?” He asked urgently, before trying to pick her up gently, even though he had not recovered from the blow to the back of the head. He made an audible grunt as he lifted Marry up, which should’ve been easy for the dark haired teen.

“Se…to…” Marry spoke out.

“Yes? How are you feeling, you don’t look well.” The injured boy told her while softly laying her down in the hospital bed.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry for being so clumsy…” She apologized.

Seto gave a worrisome smile before saying, “Marry, it’s okay, you don’t have to worry about that… But I am worried about you.”

“I’m sorry…” The innocent girl repeated before falling back into unconsciousness.

“Marry? Hey, Marry!” Seto shouted her name, worried that his friend is suffering from an awful disease. He quickly felt her forehead to check if she had a fever. “Her forehead’s burning.” He noticed. He pressed the call button next to the bed on the pale white wall, and waited for a nurse or a doctor to show up.

             Hibiya was still sitting on the bench right outside of Seto’s room. He was left behind while the other followed Konoha. “Jeez, just leaving a minor here like this all by themselves…” He joked, trying to make himself chuckle, and he did chuckle. However, his facial expression dropped from the happy and joyful expression to one of seriousness and mourning. Hibiya could never forget his time in the Kagerou Daze. Unlike most of the other members of the Mekakushi Dan, he still very well remembered the never-ending cycle of death. The hallway in the hospital slowly melted away in his vision and the many ways of how Hiyori died appeared before his eyes like a slideshow. Every death he witnessed gets less and less bearable. He clenched his eyes shut to avoid seeing them, but the images wouldn’t stop. “Leave me alone…” he quietly called out. As if the images had heard him, they disappeared. However a vision of a bright and cheerful Hiyori appeared before him. She was still wearing her summer dress that made her look extra charming to the vest-wearing boy. Despite his eyes being tightly shut, he could still clearly see her.

_“Hiyori?”_ _He asked out._

_“God, what do you want? Better not waste my time…” The girl replied._

_“I’m sorry, Hiyori… I’m so sorry… I promise I will get you back somehow…” Hibiya desperately told the girl of his dreams._

_“Tch, useless… I bet Konoha could have already gotten me out at this point, and besides, it’s not like he had watched me die over and over like you have.” Hiyori kept shooting insults at the boy._

_However, this didn’t discourage him. Her insults were never able to discourage him. “I’m sorry… I’m trying… Just give me more ti-” Before he can finish his sentence,_ a set of footsteps was heard approaching him.

He quickly opened his eyes, causing the vision of Hiyori to disappear. When he looked at the direction of where the footsteps came from, he saw a doctor with a nurse following behind walking toward him. However, they weren’t here for him. The doctor knocked on the door of the room, before turning the doorknob. To her surprise, the door was locked.

“It has been locked for hours now, have to wait for the ones inside to open it.” Hibiya informed them.

Seto heard the knock on the door and quickly turned his attention from Marry to the door. He then heard the door being pushed, but it was locked. “Damn it, why’s the door locked.” He muttered before rushing to the lock and unlocking the white coloured door. This allowed the doctor and the nurse to enter the room.

“So what’s the issue?” The doctor asked, “Wait aren’t you the one admitted to this room?”

“Yes, but my friend seemed to be suffering from something way worse than I am currently.” Seto stated while leading the doctor to Marry’s side.

When the two medical personnel saw the white haired girl, they both reacted audibly with a gasp.

“What’s wrong with her skin?” The nurse asked.

“Maybe some rare skin decease or infection.” The doctor answered with a lack of confidence.

She then quickly pulled out an electronic thermal stat and inserted the sensor into Marry’s ear. After a click of a button, the thermal stat beeped and showed the reading.

“That’s bad…” The doctor whispered.

Seeing the worried expression on her face, Seto quickly asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Her temperature is well over forty-three degrees…” The doctor announced, before turning to the nurse and gave her a command, “We need to do an emergency checkup on her. Her situation is dire, so we need every move fas-”

Before she can finish her sentence, the eyes of the white haired girl opened.

“Huh? What? What’s going on?” She asked weakly. When the medical personnel saw Marry’s eyes, they instantly froze with shock.

“Her eyes…” The nurse pointed out.

The medusa’s eyes were even more snake like since Seto last saw them. Her slit pupil now more narrow, and red streaks extended from the pupil to all directions. Seeing their fear, Seto’s eyes turned red unbeknownst to himself, and he was able to hear what the two were saying. _She… She’s like a monster… A snake in disguise as a human… She’s unnatural…_ They thought. Hearing this angered the dark haired teen.

“She’s not a monster!” He yelled at the medical staffs. “She’s not unnatural, she’s just a girl who desperately need your help.” He continued in a serious tone.

“What…? Did you? How did you know what I was thinking?” The doctor questioned, her voice was quivering with fear.

This made Seto calm down and apologize to the doctor. “Ah… I’m… I didn’t, I just guessed… I’m so sorry!” He bowed to show his sincerity in his apology.

“It’s okay,” She responded before turning to the nurse.

However, to her dismay, what she saw is her assistant nurse, frozen in place, not moving a single muscle in her body. Her face terrified, and her eyes were making complete contact with Marry’s eyes.

“Nur… Nurse?” She asked before pushing the frozen nurse gently, in hopes that she would snap out of her trance.

After the contact that was made, the nurse simply rocked side to side, before falling down next to the doctor still in her frozen state. This caused the doctor to scream and run out of the room.

“Wait!” Seto called out, but it was too late, she was far-gone.

“Damn it…” He said.

“Woah, what happened there?” Hibiya’s voice came from around the corner and made a remark, which startled Seto.

“Hibiya!” He shouted due to the scare.

“Yeah, hi, don’t need to shout my name.” The vest-wearing boy told him.

Suddenly an idea came to Seto’s mind. “I need you to help me. Marry is currently suffering from some weird condition. I’m wondering if you can help me bring her back to the base.” Seto requested.

“Wait, slow down; what exactly is happening?” the vest wearing boy asked.

“When I woke up, I saw Marry lying on the side of the bed, but then when I turned on the lights, I realized that she was suffering from something that was turning her skin scaly, like a snake.” The dark haired boy explained.

“Did the doctor not do anything to help her?” Hibiya asked.

“They tried, but then I accidently used my power, and Marry used hers… which startled the doctor…”Seto explained.

“Alright, fine.” The light brown haired boy sighed before agreeing.

            Kano stood in silent, didn’t know how to respond to the news he received from Takane.

“I…” He was able to say before shutting his mouth again.

“Yeah… That’s why Shintaro broke down.” The pig tailed girl commented with sorrow in her voice.

The commotion that started early had died down by now. Shintaro had stopped crying and now sat in a bench next to Haruka in complete silence. Everyone is concerned for his well-being.

“It’s my fault for letting her go.” Kano told Takane regretfully. “Only if I had stopped her, and went instead… Maybe I would have been the one…” The blonde haired teen felt responsible for the death of his friend.

He enjoyed the caring presence of having Momo in the Mekakushi Dan. Even though she had to deal with her own personal demons, she always was able to lighten up the mood and cheer everyone on.

“She had so much to live for…” He continued beating himself down. “More than I had any-” A slap to the face snapped Kano from his trance.

“Hey, don’t say things like that. Saying that you should have died instead makes her death even more pointless than it is. You still have plenty to live for too.” Takane chastised the liar.

“Like what?” Kano asked.

“Taking care of Kido for example. You’re the only person who can tell her when to stop… Sometimes…” The black haired girl responded with a serious tone.

_Kido…_ The liar repeated the name in his head over and over. _I do have to take care of her…_ He told himself as he thought of the numerous times that she had selflessly stood up for every one in the Dan. The memories of Kido bravely standing up for everyone were not some of the most pleasant memories. Most of them end in her getting herself hurt badly in one way or another. However, Kano was always there to try and talk her out of it. Most of the times it didn’t always work out how the blonde boy expected. He recalled one time when they were still attending school; a bully was picking on him and Seto. Kido stepped in like a stereotypical hero in an action movie and stood in front of her two dear friends. There was going to be a fight between them, but Kano stepped in and tried to convince everyone not to fight. This enraged the bully and he knocked Kano out with a punch. This made Kido even angrier, which in turn caused even more of a bigger fight to break out. Despite knowing that Kido at that time was protecting them because she was just trying to make Ayano happy, it was still a very important piece of memory for the blonde haired teen; it might the one of the first times that Kano felt that Kido really did care for him. Thinking about these events made Kano realize that he needed to protect the green haired girl. She may be selfless, but she’s too selfless, which caused her to be in critical condition three times in the course of a few months, and he can’t bare to see witness that happening again. Kano breathed a deep sigh before putting on a smile. In his mind, he had silently pledged to guard Kido’s safety no matter what.

“Thanks Takane,” the blonde haired teen said gratefully.

“Huh? I didn’t think I would actually help so much…” Takane told the liar while rubbing the back of her head in embarrassment.

            “How much further?” Hibiya asked, impatiently. He had been carrying Marry together with Seto for what felt like hours to him.

“Almost there, just a tiny bit further.” Seto informed.

“Thank god… Marry isn’t really the lightest of all people, you know?” The vest-wearing boy grunted as he remarked.

“She’s really not that heavy. You’re still developing your muscles right now. Everything will be a lot easier to carry when you get older.” Seto responded.

“I don’t think the human body works like that,” Hibiya answered. As this chitchat went on, the duo saw the door to their base.

“We’re here!” The brown haired boy announced with excitement.

“Yeah we are, let me unlock the door.” The jumpsuit wearing teen said as he took out a key from one of his many pockets and inserted it in the door. He turned the knob and breathed a sigh of relief. “We’re finally home again…”

As he held the door open for Hibiya and Marry to enter, he suddenly felt a pair of gaze staring at them.

“Hibiya? Do you feel as if you’re being watched?” Seto asked, while his facial features tensed.

“Huh? No, why you ask?” the vest wearing boy responded to the question.

“Oh… It’s nothing…” The dark haired teen replied, easing the tension in his expression into a soft smile.

“You’re acting weird…” Hibiya commented.

“Haha, sorry,” Seto responded before shutting the door behind them and helped the younger teen move Marry into her bedroom.

            “Shintaro… How are you feeling?” Haruka asked while sitting next to the jersey-wearing boy.

It has been two hours since Kido had entered the emergency room. Takane and Kano had both gone to the convenient store to get some food, leaving Haruka and Shintaro by themselves.

“I… I don’t know…” He responded, voice still slightly shaky from crying.

“I’m sorry…” The white haired teen apologized before turning his gaze to the ground.

He hated watching his friends suffer, especially after everything that had happened this night. “Hey, listen, if you need anything you can tell me…” He told Shintaro without looking at him, his voice portrayed one of distress and sadness.

“It… It’s fine,” Shintaro replied before standing up, “I think I need some times alone…” He informed the white haired figure and began to walk away.

“Wait, where are you going?” Haruka stood up and caught the jersey wearing teen by his wrist.

“The base…” He told the white haired teen without looking at him.

“Should I come with you? I can just tell Takane that I’m accompanying you back,” Haruka suggested.

“No, it’s fine. I will be fine…” Shintaro told the concerned teen, “Thanks…”

Haruka let go of Shintaro’s wrist and let him go. However, before the other teen fully disappeared from his sight, he said to him, “Please stay safe.”

This made the black haired teen stop in his track. His body visible tensed for a moment before relaxing. No words were exchanged from him to the white haired teen. The only acknowledgement that Haruka got was a small nod before Shintaro went away.

            Seto and Hibiya had returned to base for few hours by now. The vest-wearing teen had fallen asleep on the couch, while Seto took care of the sick Marry. Her scales didn’t seem as if they are going down anytime soon, which worried the dark haired teen to death.

“Please be okay, Marry.” He pleaded before removing the cold towel that he had gently placed on the medusa’s head.

“It’s getting warm…” He told himself before heading to the kitchen.

As he exited Marry’s room, he was washed over with the quietness and peacefulness of the base. _No wonder Kido likes staying up after we all sleep… This is tranquil._ He thought. After washing the towel with cold water, he placed it in the freezer to cool it faster. Since he had to wait for a few minutes, he poured a glass of cold water for himself before sitting at the dinner table. Just when he was about to take his first sip of water, he heard a knock on the door. _Must be the rest of the gang…_ He thought before getting up and walking towards the door. _Wait, but wouldn’t one of them have the keys…_ He realized. Instead of opening the door, he peaked through the cat eye. Standing in front of the door was a familiar tall slender figure that Seto knew very well. His eyes widened at the sight of who was outside of the door. As he opened the wooden structure, his face lit up with happiness.

“Dad…” The dark haired teen greeted.

            Kano and Takane were walking back to the hospital with bags filled with snacks and drinks. While walking down the empty streets, the pig-tailed girl couldn’t help but take a glance at the liar. His face portrayed a complex range of emotions. His eyes droopy; signifying sadness, while his mouth was tensed yet relaxed, making Takane tense determination coming from the teen. His body slightly hunched, and his grip on the bag loose. It was impossible to read just what exactly the liar was thinking at the time, but the she knew it had to do with Kido.

“Thinking about Kido?” She asked nonchalantly.

“Huh? Yeah… Yeah.” Kano snapped out of his trance by the question.

“Jeez, you care for her so much…” Takane commented with a joking tone. The blonde teen replied with some chuckles before becoming silent.

“Hey, Kano,” Takane began; her voice was deeper and more monotone, “I know you really loved your Kido, which is why I have a favor to ask you.”

The sudden seriousness took the liar by surprise, which made him stumble on his words. “Wha? Uh. Yeah, sorry, what is it?” he enquired.

“Make sure that she doesn’t get anymore involved with Kenjirou Tateyama.” Takane requested.

“You know about that too huh?” Kano’s voice now also deeper than usual, asked.

“As I was being transferred from my digitalized form back into my body, I remembered something. Before Tateyama killed me, I heard faint sounds of him talking in a voice I’ve never heard before. He said something about uniting the snakes.” The hoodie wearing teen recalled.

“Should’ve known that you’re not as oblivious as you look,” Kano scoffed. “Since you know about the snake, I need you to pretend that you don’t know anything. Don’t mutter another word about the snake to anyone again.” He commanded.

“Wait, why?” Takane questioned.

“Because you might get everyone killed. I know about the snake. I made a promise to it to do its biding in order to protect Kido and Seto. One of the promises is to never reveal it to anyone. If it finds out that you know, no doubt it will come after me thinking I told you. So don’t get involved.” The blonde teen explained before glaring at the pig-tailed girl.

Takane had never felt so threatened before, but something about the teen’s stare sent a shivers down her spine.

“Okay… I won’t…” She agreed to the boy’s demands. “Anyways we are almost back at the hospital.” Takane quickly changed the topic to rid of the tension that was building up.

“Yeah, wonder if there’s any updates on Kido yet.” Kano’s voice suddenly became higher and portrayed more emotion.

            After the two entered the hospital, they walked toward the bench that Haruka was sitting on.

“You guys are back,” the white haired boy said.

“Yeah, we are… Where’s Shintaro?” Takane, noticing the absence of the jersey wearing teen, asked.

“He said he was heading to the base, because he needed time alone.” The innocent boy responded.

Hearing this made Takane drop the groceries she had bought.

“Takane?” Haruka questioned, sounding worried.

Memories of Shintaro locking himself in the bathroom bombarded the hoodie wearing teen.

“Kano and Haruka, you stay here, I have to go after Shintaro.” Takane announced before sprinting out of the hospital.

            Hibiya slowly opened his eyes as sunlight struck his eyes. He yawned and moaned before sitting up.

“I fell asleep on the couch…” He whispered to himself.

He rubbed his eyes and scanned the base. A sudden sense of dread filled the base as he took in everything he saw. Marry was sitting on the couch opposite of him with Konoha comforting her by her side, crying, a girl who looked similar to Ene was sitting at the dining table, tending to Shintaro, and Kido, Kano, Seto and Momo were missing from the base.

“What happened?” He asked out loud.

This got the attention of everyone that was present at the base. All four of them had an expression of surprise before being washed over with sadness again.

Confused, Hibiya walked over to Konoha and asked, “What happened? Why is everyone so sad?”

An expression of realization appeared on the white haired teen’s face. He slowly got up from Marry whispering, “It will be okay. We will find him,” before leading the vest wearing boy into his room.

He closed the door behind them, and crouched to be at eye level with the clueless boy. Hibiya watched as Konoha raised his arm and laid his hand on his shoulder.

“Last night was a tough night. A lot of… unfortunate events happened… Seto disappeared, presumably kidnapped. All we can find that can lead us to him was his yellow hairpin.” The white haired teen took out the hairpin, to show Hibiya.

The yellow hairpin looked like it had been step on, with the way it had split in half. The vest-wearing boy desperately hoped whatever Konoha was going to say next would be better than this.

“As for the rest…” the innocent boy’s grip on Hibiya tightened, and tears could be seen visibly welling up in his eye sockets as he continued, “Kido was badly injured and the doctor said that her survivability is low, Kano is currently at the hospital keeping an eye on her. As for Kisaragi…” Tears now flowed down his face, “Hibiya… Kisaragi passed away…”

As these words exited the white haired boy’s mouth. Hibiya couldn’t help but feel as if he was infected with the sadness that the base was laden with as his tears fell from his eyes.


	22. Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *****Trigger warning for self harm.*****

  The night sky was lit up with hundreds of shining stars. Each of them looked full of life as they flickered away in the darkness. Shintaro couldn’t help but think of his sister when he watched these gems shone in the night sky. She was so young and full of life, she had so much potential to become something great in the future, and yet, on this night she stopped shining. Her death sucked up all that was happy and hopeful in the jersey wearing teen. Now he felt as if he was a shell, a husk that contained nothing. The voice in his head still nagged him; it never seemed to want to shut up. Shintaro reached into his pants pocket and searched for his phone, trying to find a way to drown out the deafening noise. However, to his dismay, he couldn’t find it. _Ah, right, Konoha still has it I think…_ He told himself. He breathed a sigh of defeat before continuing back to the base. Each step he took felt heavy. It was as if someone had tied bricks to his ankle. He didn’t want to lift his feet off the floor and placing one before the other. He just wanted to fall and give up. Nothing seemed to be worth it anymore to the jersey wearing teen. _What am I still doing here?_ He asked himself. He felt a lump in his throat as he thought that. He knew he’s about to cry again, but he didn’t care. The busy streets looked like nothing but a desolate path. Pedestrians and the cars driving by are frozen in their spots, no longer moving and colourless. Shintaro is the only one who’s moving in his mind. Warm liquid flowed down his cheeks as the feeling loneliness shadowed behind him. He lets out a small grunt before quickening his pace. Despite his legs wanting to give out underneath him, he didn’t want to stop moving. He just wanted to disappear.

“Where am I?” Darkness surrounded the room.

Something was being sharpened.

“What are you going do to me?”

“Oh, don’t worry… You’ll find out soon enough.”

Then a flash.

  As Shintaro reached the base, he took out the keys from his pocket. He inserted it into the lock and turned. The door wasn’t locked, but he didn’t care, he just needed to get to his room. As he approached the living room to cross to his safe haven, he caught a glimpse of a small statured boy lying on the couch, which startled him. He thought he would be alone in the base. He wanted to release his anguish by himself with no one around. The black haired teen stopped before the couch and grunted. There was almost a feeling of anger and frustration over the fact that Hibiya was sleeping on the couch. His hands clenched into fists, with his fingernail digging into his flesh, leaving visible marks. However, instead of lashing out in anger, he just walked past the sleeping teen and into the kitchen to grab a can of soda. He opened the door to the refrigerator and felt the sudden coolness emitted from the machine. He grabbed a red soda can and closed the fridge. He pulled the tab towards him then pushed it back. The sizzling from the carbonation felt somewhat comforting to him. Shintaro gulped the soda in his hand before placing it down on the counter. Suddenly, something felt off to him. The flavor of the liquid from the can was not he expected. _Red bean?_ He identified the flavor profile, before spitting it out in the kitchen sink. As he laid his head on the countertop in disgust, he took a closer look at the red can.

“Red bean soda…” He whispered.

It was Momo’s favorite drink. The idol always had a strange taste. Whenever she would praise a drink or food for tasting delicious, Shintaro will always point out how gross it actually is. Thinking about her made the black haired teen smile. The sides of his mouth curled up slightly, but his lips were tucked in. Mixed with all the happiness was the undeniable sadness. He couldn’t help but remind himself that his sister was no longer with him. He slowly lifted his head off the counter before heading to his room.

His room was still the same as it was in the morning. The bed was a mess, the blanket slightly drooping off the bed, the pillow sideways tucked into the corner, with his alarm clock right next to it. His desk still had cans of finished soda. The small indicator light underneath the monitor flashed in the dark, suggesting that the computer was never shut off. Shintaro let out an audible sigh of annoyances before sitting down on the mattress. Next to his bed is a cabinet with his clothes. Resting on top of the small cabinet were pictures. They were all framed with a cheap wooden ebony frame and displayed photos of his family. Shintaro was never a sentimental person, but he kept the pictures so he could make his room livelier. The red jersey wearing teen looked at the pictures, before reluctantly gathering all of them onto his bed. He examined each photo attentively.

“This is probably taken when Dad was still alive...” Shintaro told himself as he looked at the picture.

The photo displayed the siblings when they were still children playing at the beach. The siblings used to love going to the beach during the summer. The fresh ocean breeze and the cool seawater made it a perfect vacation spot for them. It was almost impossible for Shintaro even to imagine doing any outdoor activity anymore due to his two years of shut-in, but the picture showed a kid Shintaro, being chased by Momo with a water gun. The dark haired teen smiled gently as he saw their faces in the photo. They looked so happy. He had a wide grin on his face that looked playful and joyful, and his sister had a mischievous smile that portrayed innocence and glee.

“It’s been so long since then...” He commented with an awed tone, “Everything changed so fast...” His voice lowered, and demeanor changed.

Memories of this day washed over him, and before he knew it, his vision began to blur, and warm colourless liquid began falling from his eyes. Each droplet of tear hit the picture frame individually, staining the glass. A throbbing pain started to shoot through his chest. Guilt, anger, sorrow, filled the teen once again, but it was worse than before. The voice that he was trying to suppress rang in his ear again like white noise emitted from the television. However, this time Shintaro wasn’t repulsed by the voice. Instead, he embraced it. He knew from the moment that he left the hospital that he wanted to do something. There was a temptation that had been clawing away inside of him. He knew that he had to do it if he wanted the pain to go away, even if it would be temporary. He carefully laid the pictures onto his bed and headed out of his room.

  The confinement of the tiny bathroom inside the base of the Mekakushi Dan felt at home for the red jersey wearing teen. He locked the door behind him so that he could feel secluded. He turned on the tap, and a rush of water hit the cold, hard sink, splashing everywhere. Shintaro stared at the water for a few moments before splashing his face in the cold liquid. The water hitting his face felt refreshing, and soothing, yet the sharpness also made the teen wince. He slowly turned off the tap and placed his hands on the edge of the basin. He’s holding back from doing what he wanted to do. Maybe he should just go back to his room instead and sleep away the anguish he felt inside. He wanted to say to himself that that would be enough to make him better, but he knew it wouldn’t help. He felt the same way when Ayano had taken her own life. He knew it was his fault.

  The night before her short stay on this plane of existence seized, he saw her. It was a particularly uneventful night, and he was out getting groceries for the family, much to his disdain. As he was walking back to his home, he saw a figure standing by the side of the road, underneath the street lamp.

“Ayano?” He asked as he recognised the figure. The question made the figure underneath the light startle. She turned around and saw the boy in the red jersey.

“Shintaro?” She greeted.

The moment her eyes met Shintaro’s, he knew something was wrong. The longhaired teen was emitting an aura of sadness and anger. Her eyes were bloodshot, and her eye bags were puffy. It looked as if she had been crying for the entire day.

“Ayano? Are you okay?” The shorthaired teen asked, concern for the figure in front of him. It was as if that sentence had triggered something within the girl wearing her school uniform, her teeth gritted in anger and her features squished forming wrinkles above her eyebrows and around the bridge of her nose.

“You idiot... How can you not have realised it? This is all your fault, Kisaragi!” Ayano yelled out before turning away.

“Hey, what the hell was that about?” Shintaro raised his voice, before grabbing her by her shoulder and turned her around. However, as he spun her around, something strange caught his eyes. The girl’s hair turned blonde for a split second. Her hair clips disappeared, and her hair didn’t look as long as it was just seconds ago. This discrepancy caused the jersey wearing teen to loosen his grip on the girl, which allowed Ayano to run away. As Shintaro watched the girl disappear into the night, little did he know it was the last piece of memory he would have of her.

  The events of the last exchange he had with Ayano flooded his mind. He clutched his head as he remembered every bit of detail about the night. His heart ached as he watched her run away from him in his mind.

“Stop... Please...” Shintaro pleaded as he pulled on his hair.

His breathing now had become ragged, and tears welled in his eye. The never-ending heartache intensified as memories of Ayano and Momo occupied his mind. Through a blurred vision, he reached towards the counter on top of the basin, underneath the mirror he broke, and grabbed onto the box he was searching for and grabbed a small object out of it before backing away. As his back hit the wall behind him, he slid down onto the cold, hard floor. He closed his eyes tightly as he sobbed away.

 _Images of both Momo and Ayano flashed in his mind. Both of them looked lively and happy. Momo appeared to be waving at someone and Ayano was standing with a gentle smile on her face. As Shintaro tried to approach them, the figures that were before him turned into cold, dead bodies._ Cut. _A red liquid seeped from underneath the bodies of both._ Cut. _The black haired figure was almost contorted with blood flowing from her nose and mouth. Tear trails could be seen on her cheeks._ Cut. Cut _. Meanwhile, the orange-haired figure had an expression of betrayal and shock._ Cut. _Her neck was compressed and broken in half with the segment of spine connecting to her head poking out of the side of her neck. As Shintaro took in the sight in front of him, he screamed._ Cut. He screamed as loud as he can, and his eyes snapped open.

  His breathing was ragged, and sweat collected on his forehead. As he came to his senses, he could hear a loud pounding noise coming from next to him.

“Shintaro, open up, please! I know you’re in there! Please!” A muffled voice was shouting from outside of the bathroom door.

The jersey wearing teen recognised the voice but didn’t do anything. He had loosened the grip on the tiny object and watched it dropped onto the floor next to him. He looked down at his arms; crimson liquid flowed freely down the cuts he had given himself. A sudden realisation hit him as he recognised what he had done. His arms began to shake profusely, and his breathing quivered. He let out small grunts as he tried to steady his breath, but all it had done was make his teeth chatter. This is a sensation he knew that would hit him beforehand, but this time it seemed worse.

The voice was getting louder, “Shintaro! Open up, please!”

The teen gulped and slowly tried to stand up, but he felt as if his legs were going to give away any moment. He used his arm to push himself up, using the wall as a support. This left a red streak on the side of the white bathroom tile. He slowly unlocked the bathroom door as his hand continued to shake. The figure that was standing on the other side had tears in her eyes. The sight shocked Shintaro. He never expected her to feel sorry for him, let alone cry for him. The pigtailed figure leapt into the bathroom.

“Shintaro, you idiot!” She yelled at him.

  Takane knew that as soon as Haruka had said Shintaro had gone to base by himself that he was going to harm himself in one way or another. She had seen it before.

It was, what seemed like, a regular night. Shintaro had left his computer on as per usual, which allowed Ene to fly through the digital space, searching for some clues on how she can escape the digital world. However, suddenly she heard shuffling coming from the bed. She hid the tabs that she had opened and looked through the webcam. The blue haired girl witnessed the teen with dark eyes walking out of his room. She could have sworn that there were trails of tears underneath his sleep-deprived eyes. She didn’t question it however, thinking that he might just be using the bathroom. As she continued searching on the web for a possible explanation, she noticed that the teen had used the bathroom for a relatively extended period of time _. It’s been 15 minutes..._ She told herself, slightly concerned for the teen, but she brushed it off. He might have fallen asleep in there or something. Just as she finished this thought, she heard the door slam open. Shintaro was breathing heavily and sounded like he was in pain. Ene quickly backed out of the program she was in and looked through the little camera. She saw the teen frantically trying to search for his phone. Something was off about him as tossed his pillow and blanket around to search for his small rectangular device _. Are his arms covered in red?_ Ene asked herself, not knowing for sure if they were. Shintaro suddenly realised where the phone was and turned around to the computer. The blue-eyed girl quickly hid, not wanting to be seen by the distraught teen. She did peek out to take a better look at her “master.” Shock washed over the digitalised teenager as she saw blood pouring from the boy’s arms. Shintaro quickly took the phone and headed out of his room. Ene, worried for what her master had gotten himself into, transferred herself from the computer onto his phone.

She quickly appeared on the screen and asked, “Master, what happened?”

Shintaro, visibly startled by the girl in his phone, quickly tried to cover his wounds and replied, “It’s nothing; accidentally hurt myself is all.”

“It doesn’t look like an accident that could have happened if you just tripped...” She commented, sounding very worried.

“Seriously, Ene it’s nothing... I just need to use the phone as a light source to find some bandages; you can go back to the room.” He told the blue-eyed girl.

“Master, you need emergency treatment!” She yelled at him.

“Shhh... Not so loud, don’t want to wake the rest of the family up...” Shintaro told her.

“But...” Ene wanted to say but was cut off by Shintaro.

“It’s gonna be fine, trust me... Just got a few nasty cuts, I will be fine.”

“Master...” Ene believed him that night, but it was the last night that she was fouled. As days passed by, every couple of nights, she would see Shintaro come back with blood on his arms. She knew that he had been harming himself, but every time she wanted to confront him about it, he just merely brushed it off. She felt helpless. She wanted to do something to stop Shintaro from hurting himself, but she couldn’t, she’s only a file in a digital cloud. There’s nothing she could have done for him. One day, however, it just stopped. She didn’t know what had happened, but she knew she heard sobbing and crying coming from outside of Shintaro’s room, but she couldn’t tell what exactly had happened.

Thinking about it now, she knew that was only one person that could have stopped him from harming himself. She grunted as she realised that Shintaro just lost the person that was keeping him from ending his own life.

“Shintaro... Please don’t do anything stupid,” she muttered under her breath as she ran back to the base.

  The red jersey wearing teen was now sitting at the dining room table, with his arms stretched out and placed in front of him. He could hear the pigtailed girl ruffling through the cabinets, trying to search for a first aid kit.

“Where do they keep all their first aid stuff?” Takane asked out loud.

As she continued to search through the different cabinets, Shintaro spoke up. “I’m sorry...” He said quietly and mumbled.

“Sorry, what? Didn’t hear you just then.” The pigtailed girl asked while still scrimmaging through the different shelves.

“I’m sorry...” Shintaro repeated himself, this time loud enough for Takane to hear.

As these words registered within Takane’s ears, she stopped for a split second. She let that sentence sink into her consciousness before returning to find the first aid kit that she desperately needed for the boy sitting by the dining room table.

“You know, you really shouldn’t be saying that to me.” She responded casually, trying to break the dread in the air.

“I know... But... I really can’t say it to that person anymore can’t I?” The dark haired teen responded with a monotone voice.

“There it is...” Takane let out as she found a white box with a red cross on it sitting in one of the cabinets whilst ignoring the comment Shintaro had just made. She took the white box and laid it on the dining table besides Shintaro. Blood still trickled down his pale, skinny arms. The cuts were visible despite being covered in red. She unpacked the box and took the tweezers. She gently picked up the cotton wipes with the tweezers and started to clean up the wounds. Shintaro squirmed in pain as the wipes touched his wounds.

“Sorry... I will try and be more gentle with it...” Takane told him softly.

  Shintaro watched as the black haired girl clean up his wound and applied the butterfly bandages onto the areas that were cut open. He had never seen this gentle side from her before and took him by surprise. However, slowly, the person in front of him began to morph. _The long, black pigtails were replaced by short and orange hair. The sharp face shape slowly rounded out. The black oversized hoodie now replaced with a pink zip up with the characters “aun” on it. In front of Shintaro sat Momo, gently tending to his wounds. He looked down to himself and he wasn’t in his red jersey anymore, but a simple black t-shirt with a pair of grey sweatpants._

_“Momo?” Shintaro asked out, with a whimpering voice._

_“Yes, big brother? What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like this.” The orange haired teen asked out._

_Her brother was looking at her with bewilderment. “But... You...” Tears streamed down Shintaro’s eyes as he spoke out._

_“Hey, you okay?” The idol rubbed his cheek with her soft palm and rubbed away the tears. This touch was something that Shintaro knew he wouldn’t feel again. The warmth of her hand, the soft skin, something that was taken away from him a few hours ago, and he knew it._

“I’m sorry...” Shintaro apologized.

“Hey. It’s okay Shintaro... You don’t need to keep apologizing...” The other replied. “I’m sure Momo understands...” Takane continued.

Shintaro looked through his blurred vision and saw Takane sitting in front of him.

“I hope so...” He was able to say without getting choked up on his words. He looked at his arms; the pigtailed girl had completely wrapped his arms in bandages and had finished treating his wounds. “Thanks, Takane...” The black haired teen said.

“It’s no big deal.” The teen in the black hoodie responded.

  Both teens sat together in silence. They embraced the quietness that rang throughout their so-called base. Takane never thought that she would ever see the sentimental and vulnerable side to Shintaro before she was digitalised. She had always just thought him to be a cold-hearted apathetic alien. She recalled their first encounter during the school festival. Everything was so simple back then. Going to school, scolding her homeroom teacher, do work, chatting with Haruka, spending time with friends, play video games, and sleep. Never had she ever thought that her life would turn into such a tragedy. She glanced at the direction of Shintaro, and noticed that he had fallen asleep. _He must be tired after all he’s been through today,_ Takane thought to herself. Then she noticed something about the red jersey wearing teen that surprised her. Instead of a troubled expression that he always had since his nightmares had started, his face looked relaxed and slightly joyful _. I’m sure he’s dreaming of Momo..._ She thought to herself, _wonder how Haruka and Kano are doing..._

A pool of blood had gathered on the floor. The pain was agonizing.

“Shhh... Don’t worry; there’s more coming.”

  Back at the hospital, Kano and Haruka were sitting patiently, waiting for updates on Kido’s conditions. The clock on the wall behind them was ticking endlessly, cutting through the silence that filled the hallway to the emergency room. Neither Kano nor Haruka had said anything since Takane had left the hospital. Haruka had wanted to say something to the other boy, to try and comfort him, but he didn’t know how. For this instance, he wished that he didn’t have his memory back, and was still the oblivious forgetful Konoha. At least then, he could say what is on his mind without worrying. He glanced over at the blonde haired teen. He was slouching in the hospital bench, his gaze fixated on the floor. Haruka couldn’t tell if Kano was deep in thought, or was worried about Kido’s condition, or both. He stretched out his arm to reach for Kano, but before his hand came in contact with the liar, he stopped. The expression of the white-haired teen dropped from one of concern to one of sorrow and restrain. _Maybe I shouldn’t._ Haruka thought to himself. He pulled back his hand and leaned back onto the hospital bench. He looked up at the ceiling and closed his eyes, focusing on the silence that surrounded them. The clock was still ticking away at the same pace. Never changing, everlasting, until the one day that it will abruptly stop. The noise that came from the waiting room in emergency treatment building can be heard slightly. The sounds of people’s chatter, the phone ringing, people getting called, they all blend into on incoherent mess, a jumbled wave that echoes through the halls. The sound of a set of doors swinging open and footsteps walking could be heard. _Doors swinging, footsteps?_ Haruka thought before realising that a doctor had exited the operation room.

“Are you Kido Tsubomi’s friends?” The doctor asked.

Both Kano and Haruka jumped up from their seats and replied, “Yes.”

“Kido’s condition’s are... well, rather bleak... We’re doing everything we can, but I should let you know, that she’s not doing well...” Hopelessness is what this message conveyed.

Haruka didn’t know how to respond to this statement. He looked towards Kano, wondering if he had anything to say. What he saw was a face of blankness. There wasn’t much emotion that was portrayed. It could be his disguise or the sheer shock from the message itself. Seeing this, Haruka wanted to just say something to the doctor, and to Kano, to make the whole situation seem a bit brighter. _Maybe I should just say what’s on my mind..._ Haruka thought. He turned back to the doctor and reluctantly opened his mouth. At first, no voice came out. It is rather embarrassing when one has to say what they want and not think of how awkward it might sound. Eventually, a voice did come out.

“Please, try harder, Kido had always been tough, we know that she can make it. Please... Don’t give up on her yet!” He begged.

Kano’s expression suddenly changed, he looked up at Haruka with surprise.

“Yes, of course, we will keep trying. I’m glad you trust your friend so much.” The doctor responded, the innocence that came with Haruka’s statement made him chuckle.

“Thank you!” Haruka yelled out before bowing.

The doctor straightened Haruka and commented, “Your friend is lucky to have someone like you.”

As the doctor walked away, Haruka and Kano sat back down in their seats.

“Kano...” The white-haired teen started, “I know Kido will make it out of this... Trust me...” He gave a reassuring smile to the blonde teen.

“Please...” A whimpering voice pleaded.

“It’s going to be okay...” Another voice responded.

  It had been hours since the last update on the conditions of the leader. Kano was still awake despite how late it was. He checked the clock on the wall,

“3:45 huh...” He told himself out loud.

He looked over at Haruka and noticed that he was soundly asleep. “He must be tired...” Kano commented.

He was thankful that Haruka had praised Kido and begged the doctor to keep trying. In a way, it made him feel more hopeful for the injured one. However, there was still a feeling of uncertainty creeping at him. _Twice..._ He told himself. The fact that Kido had been admitted to the hospital twice in the span of a few months concerned the liar to no end. _I can’t let her do this anymore..._ He thought. He knew that the green haired teen is selfless, but he also knew that it could become dangerous. He had known this ever since Ayano jumped into the daze. However, he never expected situations would get so lethal. He started to wonder if maybe this whole situation was his fault. After all, he was reason that Kido was admitted to the emergency room before. Regret started seeping into the blonde teen. Maybe he should have told the Dan about the snake. Maybe if they had known about the danger that they would be facing, no one would be hurt. No one would have died. The more regretful he felt, the more he wanted to blame himself for the events that occurred. However, his train of thought was quickly halted as the red light that was in his peripheral disappeared. He looked up at the operation room. The doors swung open, and a hospital bed along with various equipment and monitors, as well as the nurses and doctors came out. On the bed was Kido, lying still with an oxygen tube going into her nasal cavity. There were wires and IV drops connected to her as well. Kano watched as they pushed the bed into a ward. The doctor from before then walked out of the operation room and towards Kano.

“Kido’s conditions had gotten better. Like your friend said, she’s a tough one. However, she's not in the clear yet. She has many fractured ribs, suffered from major abdominal trauma, and suffers from pulmonary compulsion, or blood accumulating in her lungs due to physical trauma. We will be putting her in an intensive care unit just to monitor her condition for the next few weeks. If she gets better then we will register her into a normal hospital room, if not, we will keep monitoring her.” The doctor explained.

“I see... Thank you, doctor.” Kano said in a monotone voice, not to show what he was feeling. Internally, that diagnosis was somewhat of a roller coaster. The blonde teen felt hope and relief when the doctor had told him that Kido had gotten better, but his heart sank when he was told that she had to be placed in an ICU. A part of him wanted to just let his façade fall, and give into his emotion. The “what if Kido doesn’t survive” in his mind had slowly, unwillingly and reluctantly, morphed into a “when”.

As the doctor walked away from the liar, he took off his mask and let streams of tears flow down his cheeks. “Damn it...” He cursed under his breaths.

He wanted to scream and yell, and vent his frustrations out somehow, but he couldn’t, not in a hospital and not with Haruka around. Kano wiped away his tears, and his eyes turned red.

“Kokonose... Wake up...” The liar called out. “Wake up now, Kokonose...”

“Hmmm? Kano?” The sleeping teen woke up and asked.

“Come on, let’s get you back to the base. Kido’s out of the operation room now... I will explain everything on the way.”

A pool of blood seeped from underneath, and a smile crept up behind the shadows.

  The door to the base swung open as Kano and Haruka arrived at the base. They saw more pairs of shoes than just the ones of Shintaro and Takane, so they assumed that others had made it back to the base as well. As soon as they enter the house, they saw a streak of blood droplets on the floor. This made both Kano and Haruka tense up. _Don’t tell me someone else..._ the blonde teen thought, he should have known that if the snake had decided that it was time to kill everyone that it would track down this base. He quickly rushed to the blood trail and followed it. However, what he found wasn’t another victim, but two teens, peacefully sleeping next to each other in the dining room. He breathed a sigh of relief but was confused by what had caused the blood. As he walked closer to the dining room, he noticed that Shintaro’s arms are heavily bandaged. That would explain the blood. He didn’t know what had caused the black haired teen to bleed, but he had his guesses. However, he refused to think that the teen would have done that to himself.

“Kokonose, can you carry them back to their room? I’m just gonna head out for a while.” Kano asked.

“Um, sure. Where are you going? And where do I carry Takane to? Shintaro’s room is only big enough to fit one.” Haruka questioned the liar.

“I’m gonna go keep an eye out on Kido... As for Enomoto...” Kano paused before replying, “Kido’s room has more space now, right?”

“Hmm...” Marry groaned as her eyes slowly opened. “Where... am I?” She asked out loud.

  She groggily sat up and scanned the environment around her. She was in her room. The white-haired medusa gently rubbed her eyes to clear her vision. She had no recollection of how or who had brought her back home. Then, she recalled what had happened.

“Seto...” She whispered before jumping out of her bed.

She swung her door open and rushed into the living room. What greeted her was silence. It seemed like no one was at the base. _Hmmm... Is no one home?_ She wondered. She went to Seto’s room, but no one was there. In fact, it looked as if no one had set foot in it since the morning before the beach trip. Marry gritted her teeth suddenly. A sense of dread and remorse hit her as she reminded herself that Seto was injured, and she was the reason behind it. _How did I end up here then?_ She asked herself. She tried to think back to when she was in the hospital. A realisation clicked within Marry’s head, she quickly ran to the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. She breathed a sigh of relief as she realised that her scales had disappeared.

  She remembered that in the hospital room, she felt pain shooting through her body, and felt as if something was trying climbing its way out of her. She quickly went near the garbage can and prepared herself to chuck up all of her lunch into the little tin can. However, before she could open the lid of the can, she saw her reflection. Her cheeks and neck were growing scales. Her eyes were crimson red. She was becoming a monster. The pain that she was feeling was quickly replaced with fear. She hurriedly got up and locked the door to the hospital room. No one can see her like this. As the lock clicked into place, the pain that Marry felt moments ago suddenly intensified. The pain sent her collapsing onto the floor. She let out a whimper. She slowly steadied stood up, using the wall as a support. Her legs her were shaking, and her consciousness was fading away. The excruciating pain was unbearable for the white-haired girl. Her legs gave out underneath her again, but this time she was able to get back up. She could feel her eyelids shutting. She slowly crawled her way back onto the chair next to Seto’s hospital bed.

“I’m sorry Seto...” She whispered before her consciousness drifted away.

 _Maybe Seto’s still at the hospital,_ she told herself. She slowly walked out of the bathroom and into the center of the living room. As she reached the couches, she noticed a sleeping Hibiya lying comfortably on a soft cushion. _Maybe he would know where everyone is,_ Marry thought. “Amamiya?” She asked, gently shaking him to try and get his attention. No response came from the brown-eyed teen. _Maybe I shouldn’t bother him..._ She told herself. However, she felt that she couldn’t just leave the young boy lying on the couch without anything to keep him warm. The temperature had been dropping steadily over the past few days, as it was the end of October. She quickly went to her room and grabbed a spare sheet of blanket and lightly draped it onto Hibiya. She gave a gentle smile at what she had done and sat down on the smaller couch on the opposite side of the sleeping teen. _I will just wait for the rest of the Dan to get back._ She told herself.

  Time ticked away and still, there weren’t any signs that everyone would be back soon. Tiredness began to sink in for Marry, after all she wasn’t used to staying up late. She let out a small yawn and stood up from the couch. Before she head back to her room, she went to the front door and checked if it was locked. It was always a rule between the orphans that the last one to go to bed had to go and check if all the appliances were turned off and the front door was locked. Most of the time the person would be Kido. She usually made sure everyone slept before she did. However, since Marry was the only one besides Hibiya that was in the base, she went and checked the door. As she reached the door, she heard a crack from underneath her slippers.

“Hmm?” She let out as she moved her foot back to check what she stepped on.

She picked up the small piece of item that she had stepped on and examined it. As she realised what it was, her eyes widened and her grogginess disappeared. In her hand, she held Seto’s hairclip, broken and twisted. The medusa started to breath frantically. She panicked over what could have happened to Seto. She scolded herself for her carelessness, and quickly ran back to the sleeping teen to try and wake him up. As she was running, her slippers slipped, sending her crashing to the hard wooden floor.

“Ah...” She whimpered as her head throbbed in pain.

A door opened and a figure came out of their room to check out the commotion.

“Marry? Are you okay?” Konoha asked from the doorframe.

The medusa didn’t respond, but instead started to bail furiously and ran into the arms of the white-haired teen.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Se... Seto...” She was able to speak out.

“What about Seto?” The other asked, unsure what Marry was going to say.

“He... He...” the pink-eyed teen held up the broken hairclip and showed it to Konoha.

Seeing the twisted state of the hairclip made the white-haired teen alert. There was a huge possibility that Seto might have gone out and simply dropped his hairclip, and one of the members of the Dan stepped on it by accident, but there was a sneaky suspicion in the back of his head telling him that Seto might be in danger. Burying that thought in the back of his head for a moment, he brought Marry to the couch and sat her down.

“I’m sure he’s going to be fine. I’m just going to go out to check if he had just gone for a stroll.” He told the medusa before rushing out of the door.

  The sun slowly crept its way up from the horizon and Marry had yet to fall asleep. The thought that Seto might be in a life-threatening danger never left Marry. The sound of a door clicking open cut through the quietness that was present in the room. The medusa looked to the direction of the door and only to find Shintaro walking out of his room, holding onto his bandaged left arm. He looked around and saw Marry sitting on the couch.

“Good morning, Marry.” He greeted and waved.

The white-haired girl was surprised by the bandages on the other’s arms, especially as a crimson liquid stained a part of his left arm.

“Shintaro, Seto had gone missing...” She informed the teen.

However, as the words left her mouth, the paranoia set in once more, which made her start to weep.

“Hey, hey, Marry.” The black haired teen concerned for the girl ran to her side. However, he didn’t know what to do. “I’m sure, Seto is fine. The last time I checked he was still at the hospital...” He said, trying to comfort his friend.

“No... We... We... Found his hairclip... on the floor here...” Marry told him in the midst of her crying.

Shintaro had no idea what had happened since he passed out, but he wasn’t sure if this was caused by Marry’s paranoia or something else. “I’m sure he just dropped it when he was in the base or something...”

The black haired teen had no clue what to say in a situation like this. He didn’t have a single clue to what had happened. However, before he could say anything else, Marry pulled him towards her and started crying into his arms. The tight grip on Shintaro’s arms from the medusa made him wince in pain.

“Ah... Marry...” He let out before trying to break his way out of the grip.

“Marry... Please... it hurts...” He cried out.

This made the white-haired girl realise the grip she had on the black haired teen, and she quickly let go. However, as she did, bloodstain on his left arm had increased in size.

“Oh no... I’m sorry...” She quickly apologized.

“It’s fine... Ah...” Throbbing pain shot through Shintaro’s arm.

“Why are you yelling this early in the morning?” A cranky voice came out from another room.

Standing there, was a tired looking Takane. She rubbed her eyes before walking to towards the duo on the floor.

“Oh good morning, Taka- Ah...” Shintaro tried to greet the pigtailed teen. The grunt of pain coming from the black haired teen made Takane realise the blood that been seeping out from underneath the bandages.

“Idiot! You reopened your wound!” Takane yelled out before dragging the teen back to the dining table to tend to his wounds. Just then the front door opened to a saddened and worried Konoha.

“I’m sorry, Marry...”

  The sun slowly climbed further into the sky, and the hospital was lit with a warm yellow glow. Kano was sitting on the corner of the hospital bed, talking to the green haired girl, talking to her softly.

“You have to stop being so selfless... you know that?” He started.

“I know you want to protect everyone... But you have limits...” He sighed.

“Maybe it is time for me to tell everyone about the snake... For their sake, I think they need to know... What do you think?”

Silence.

“Maybe not... It would cause too much panic... I’m not even sure if the snake had decided to kill yet. Maybe Momo was just a one-off... Maybe it’s not going to cause any more harm...”

“Sorry... I know... I shouldn’t call Momo’s... death... a one-off... I’m sorry.”

Suddenly a vibration came from within Kano’s pockets. He took out his phone and saw that Marry had sent him a message.

“It’s from Marry... Maybe she burned down the base or something... I’m just kidding; you don’t have to worry.”

As he checked the content of the message, his eyes slowly widened, and he stood up from the edge of the hospital bed.

“Something happened... Something bad... Please wake up soon...” Kano said as he left the hospital.

  The front door slammed open, and the blonde haired teen entered the base.

“What the hell happened?” He asked with anger. “How the hell did Seto just disappear?”

The base was shocked by Kano’s outburst, they have never seen Kano being angry before, evening Marry hadn’t.

Noticing the change in atmosphere in the base, the liar turned his eyes red and sighed, “Anyone has anything to say?”

“We don’t know... All we found was his hairclip.” Haruka responded.

“Let’s pray that he’s not taken away by my dad...” The blonde haired teen told everyone with a joking tone. However just as his finished his sentence, knocking came from the front door. The entire Dan focused their attention on the door. Kano slowly moved towards the door and peeked through the cat’s eye. No one is there... He told himself. He gulped before reaching for the handle to the door. His breathing was erratic. For he knew, this could be a trap. He slowly wrapped his fingers around the doorknob, before looking back at the others.

“I want you all to hide...” He ordered.

Everyone in the base knew what Kano was afraid of, but no one followed his orders.

“Guys... I mean it... Hide.” He repeated.

No one had moved.

“You know we’re not just going to hide and wait for you to get shot,” Takane remarked.

“We will be behind you, Kano!” Marry exclaimed.

“Guys...” Kano whispered. Suddenly the black haired teen stood up from the dining table and walked towards the blonde teen.

“Shintaro, what are you doing?” the blonde teen asked.

“Listen, if Tateyama really is outside... I want you to run and get everyone out of here...” He explained.

“What about you?” Kano asked.

“I will try and hold him off.” The other teen responded.

The blonde teen looked into Shintaro’s eyes and saw his determination. _Kisaragi... It looks like your brother can look badass at times._ He told Momo silently, before nodding to Shintaro. Kano slowly turned the knob, before pulling the door open. Then nothing. Nothing happened. No gunshots, no blood... But there is a box sitting in front of the door.

“What the hell?” Kano commented. He moved the box into the box.

“It was just a delivery I think.” The blonde teen informed the Dan. As he examined the box, he noticed an envelope on top of it. He took the envelope and opened it.

“What’s in it?” Hibiya asked.

“A letter...” He responded. As Kano held the letter in his hand, he felt shivers sent down his spine. He gently opened it up and read.

“Hello there. Let’s face it; it’s probably Kano who opened the letter, so let me just say. Hi there, we meet again. I hope you haven’t broken your promise to me. Sadly to inform you, if you haven’t found out by now, that I surely have broken my promise to you. Sorry about Kisaragi, but trust me, you will all meet her very soon. This letter is attached to a box, and let’s just say that I sure do hope you enjoy your gift.”

Kano eyed the “gift” from the snake and gulped. He didn’t know what to expect, but knowing that it had possessed his father, the box could very well contained a bomb.

“Enomoto, can you pass me a pair of scissors from the kitchen?” He asked.

Takane quickly got off her seat and searched through the drawer. She then passed the scissors to Kano. The blonde teen then cut the tape that was on the sides of the box, before pushing the blade of the cut object into the tape on top and slid down. As he opened the box, a wave of pungent smell filled his nostrils.

“What was that...” He asked out loud. Soon the smell filled the entire base.

“Smells like rotten meat...” Marry commented while covering her nose.

“Ugh...” Kano let out as he went looked inside the box. However, the disgust was quickly transformed into fear as he saw a stash of photos within the box. He took out the pictures and examined them. There were a total of five pictures. The first was a large blade on top of a surgical cart. A feeling of dread crept up the blonde teen as he saw the photo. As he put shuffle the photo to the back, he saw what was in the next photo. _Seto!_ He exclaimed in his mind. A photo of an unconscious Seto lying in what appeared to be an abandoned classroom. Suddenly the dots connected within Kano’s mind. He tossed the photos to the side and looked back into the box, inside was an object covered in bloodied newspapers. The rest of the Dan watched on as Kano reached in and uncovered the newspaper. He let out a scream of fear and fell to the floor.

“What was it?” Haruka asked before heading for the box.

“No! Get away!” Kano exclaimed before closing the box and ran outside with it.

Shortly later he came back. He closed the door behind him and slid down to the floor.

“God damn it...” He whispered while covering his face. “God fucking damn it!” He exclaimed while banging his the door with his fist.

Tears rolled down his cheek as he continued to curse with sadness and frustration. The entire dan ran towards the broken down teen and tried to comfort him, all except for one.

“Takane? Come here...” Shintaro called out while looking at the final photo within the set.

As the pigtailed girl walked up to Shintaro, he showed her the picture. The photo was a blade held up to Seto. Takane realised what could have possibly be in the box and wanted to puke.

“Tateyama did this...” Shintaro stated suddenly.

“Huh?” Takane asked out.

“Today’s a weekday, and assuming that he still works at this school, there is only one place he could be.” The red jersey wearing teen told the pigtailed girl.

Realising what he meant by the sentence, she gripped onto the wrist of the teen. “No. You are staying here. You’re not going after him.” Takane demanded.

However, the teen didn’t respond.

“Shintaro... I know you’re angry, but you need to –” the pigtailed girl wasn’t able to finish her sentence before Shintaro pulled his wrist from her grip and ran towards the door.

“Move...” He ordered the rest of the dan before putting on his shoes and sprinted outside.

“Hey, Shintaro!” Hibiya yelled out and ran after him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the patience of waiting for this story to update... Sorry for the infrequent update... I've been busy with a lot of school work, uni apps, and prepping for the mock exams that is... oops, it's tomorrow, probably should be doing that... as well as prepping for the eventual final exams. However, optimistically speaking, I will finish this before... 2019... Hopefully before then will be nice. I'm planning to trim what I had in mind originally down into just some of the key events plus some chapters that won't have much happening in them. Again, thanks for keeping up with the story!


	23. Deterioration

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I deleted this chapter after it being up for two weeks because I was very unhappy about how the ending of the chapter turned out, so I rewrote the last bit. Here it is... Hope you enjoy it!

    The autumn wind blew; carrying with it the crimson leaves that had been ripped from their homes. In the back of the garden, a sea of orange and red flooded the lawn. The only things that were still visible from the ocean of leaves were the white fences, clotheslines, as well as two wooden crosses that protruded out from the soil. Two crosses for the two who had passed away. Two crosses for the two that he had taken away from the world. Two crosses for the wish of one sadistic being. In the secluded Tateyama mansion, the culprit behind the demises of Momo and Seto watched on from inside of his house. Tears still trailing from his eyes down his cheeks. He didn’t bother to wipe them. He sighed shakily before moving away from the window. He walked up the wooden stairs and reached the second floor of the house. He could hear muffled cries of help that was echoing from the end of the hallway. He sighed, remembering that he had taken another child and was prepared to send him to his death. Maybe he could let the teen out, Tateyama wished, knowing that freeing the child in his room is an impossible task. He knew that it wouldn’t let him do so. Before heading to his room, he made a few detours. First, he entered his wife’s room. Clean and untouched, the room was left exactly how it was like on the day of the tragic accident that took her life. He walked up to the work desk and opened the drawer right under the work surface. Inside sits an old dusty notebook. Tateyama took out the notebook, and scanned the cover and the back of the book, looking at it as if he had never seen it before; despite the hundreds of time he had seen his wife writing into it. He gently flipped it open to the first page and read the content of the book. A frown crept up the older man’s face as he read on. The more he read, the more agitated and guilty he felt. Eventually, he shut the notebook and placed it gently back into the drawer. Before he closed the little storage, he took one last glance at the title, “Research on the Snake of Clearing Eyes”. After he closed the drawer, he walked back into the hallway and shut the door behind him. The next stop was his daughter’s room. Like his wife’s room, it had not been touched since the day that he witnessed her jumping into the daze. The room was rather small compared to the other rooms of the house, but that was why Ayano liked it. Tateyama remembered distinctively that the day they had moved into this house, Ayano set her eyes on this specific room because it felt contained and personal. He smiled at the memory he had of his daughter, but it was immediately dropped when he remembered the reason she was taken away from him. He walked up to her desk and picked up a picture of her and her friends. He gripped the picture tightly as he reminded himself of what he did to all of them. Realising his anger and guilt crawling its way up to him, he decided to take a deep breath before placing the picture down. As he left her room and closed the door behind him, he heard loud banging coming from his front door downstairs. A male voice yelled at him to open up, a voice that Kenjirou Tateyama was all too familiar with. A part of him wanted to open the door for him and tell him the reason behind his horrendous acts, but the rest of his mind was telling him to ignore it. He knew that once he opened the door, and see the boy, it will have no mercy on the kid. Then again, the decision wasn’t one that he can make because before he was aware, his feet started moving on their own. He was no longer in control of his actions and has no choice but to silently pray that the snake would let the teen go.

“Hello there, Kisaragi...” It said.

    “Shintaro! Where are you going? Slow down!” Hibiya yelled out as he chased after the teen in the red jersey. However, to the surprise of no one, Shintaro ignore the vested teen. “Shintaro!” the brown-eyed teen continued to yell out. The other teen appeared as if he had heard him and started to slow down. Hibiya sighed as he started to slow down as well. “Shintaro, please, you have to think-” Before the teen could finish his sentence, Shintaro crawled into a hole on the side of what looked like a large fence. “Huh? Shin- Shintaro! That’s trespassing!” He warned. However, the teen in the red jersey doesn’t seem like he was going to stop. “Ugh...” Hibiya grunted before following.

After entering the school, Shintaro seemed to slow down slightly, perhaps trying not to look suspicious. This allowed the vested teen to catch up with the other teen. “Hey, Shintaro please... Would you just listen for a little while?” Hibiya asked.

“You’re really a pain in the ass, you know that?” the black-haired teen replied.

“Hey... I know... I got that plenty before...” The brown haired replied, remembering the girl that he dearly missed. “Listen, you’re being irrational, Shintaro, please.... I know that your sister was killed, but this just isn’t the way to avenge her... I felt the same way when I lost Hiyori…” Hibiya continued, trying to convince the red jersey wearing teen to stop.

However, Shintaro stopped in his tracks and pushed Hibiya into a nearby wall, pinning him by his collar. He didn’t say anything to the vested teen, but Hibiya could tell that the red jersey wearing teen was close to punching him. However, instead of looking scared or intimidated, Hibiya gripped onto Shintaro’s wrist and pushed it off. A sudden wave of anger and disappointment struck the young teen, snapping at Shintaro.

“Enough is enough...” He said, “You know, I’ve about had it enough with you acting this way. Why did you want to sacrifice yourself in the morning when we thought Tate-whatever-his-name-is was at the door? Was it because you had no will left to live? Is that it? Pathetic... Also, you didn’t even try and help Kano when he was breaking down at the door. He’s a friend of yours, isn’t he? Or was he just a person that Momo was nice to so you decide to be nice to them too. God, speaking of Momo, what would she think of you right now? I bet she would be so disappointed in yo-” the vested teen’s rant was cut short by a punch he received to the side of his face. He grunted as he fell to the floor.

Hibiya was about to retaliate with a punch of his own, but then he saw the face of the red jersey wearing teen. He was crying. His body was shaking from anger and sadness. “I... I’m sorry...” Hibiya was able to say. He knew that he shouldn’t have said what he had to Shintaro, but during the heat of the moment, he just said everything that was on his mind.

“I shouldn’t have-” The apology was cut short by Shintaro, “Shut up...” The brown-eyed teen obliged and silently watched as Shintaro walked into the school building.

 _I went too far..._ He mentally scolded himself. Instead of following the other teen into the building, Hibiya sat under a nearby tree, as there was no one nearby. He looked up at the sky through the gaps in between the leaves. “You have no idea what he was going through... Why did you explode?” He quietly asked himself. “Shintaro is your friend isn’t he... Shouldn’t you be helping him? God that makes me sound like a hypocrite.” He told himself. “Maybe I should leave him alone for a little while...” He suggested. As he stood up to leave the school grounds, suddenly felt a pair of hands grabbing him from behind. “What the-” Hibiya managed to express before having a white cloth cover his nose and mouth. The cloth had a sweet scent to it. Hibiya tried his hardest to fight out of the grip of whoever that was trying to kidnap him. He tried to scream, but to no avail, he felt his limbs losing drape powerlessly by his side and his eyelids slowly shutting themselves. Before he completely lost his consciousness, he heard a voice calling out to his name. He recognised who the voice belonged to and attempted to call out to them. “Shintaro… Help…” Hibiya whispered before darkness consumed him.

    The inside of the school building had a sense of tranquillity to it that Shintaro was surprised to find. The school was never somewhere that he would feel calm entering, whenever he was in this academic building when he still attended this forsaken place, he always felt agitated. From the noisy classmates to what Shintaro considers as kindergarten level subjects, it was never someplace he wanted to go to willingly. Ever since Ayano passed away, he would visit this school from time to time, talking to the girl with the red muffler on the rooftop. Today, however, he was not here for her, he was here for the culprit that took his sister’s life, as well as his friend’s. He walked to the staircase and gripped on the handle. Hibiya’s words still echoed inside of his head. He knew that all the things that he had said held some truth. He was sacrificing himself in the morning because he had nothing to live for. He had never liked Kano all that much, but he should have helped him when he was breaking down. After all, the blonde teen must have been traumatised after seeing whatever part of Seto that was sent in the box. A sudden realisation struck Shintaro. He hadn’t even seen his sister’s body after she had died. He didn’t get the opportunity to mourn next to her or tell her that he loved her. After all this end, he wants to hold a funeral for her, one without the millions of “fans” that plagued her life, one that is peaceful and quiet. He knew that that would be what Momo would have wanted.

“I will make this right for you…” He whispered before ascending the staircase.

    When he reached the third floor, he walked to the “special help” classroom. He took a small peek into the classroom. Inside sat two students, one boy and one girl, reminiscent of the days when Shintaro attended school. However, besides the two students, there was no one else in the classroom. Did he miss his sister’s murderer? Was he too late? Had the psychopath left the city already? Questions arose within the teen. There’s only one way to find out where Tateyama had gone. Shintaro breathed a deep sigh and placed his hand on the door handle. He had always been bad at social interactions, especially now after two years of shutting himself in his room. His sister had mocked him for this in the past that in moments of emergency, he was always useless. Shintaro slightly smiled when he recalled this memory. “That was only a few months ago…” He whispered to himself. He tightened the grip on the door handle and took a deep breath. _I’m going to make you proud Momo._ Shintaro said to his sister, before twisting the metal, round doorknob.

As he entered the classroom, the two students that were sitting in the classroom turned their heads towards the teen’s direction. Gazes, they terrify the dark-eyed teen. A shiver was sent down his spine as the students looked at him.

“Who are you?” the female student asked.

Shintaro’s vocal chords prevented whatever words that were coming out of him. Both students tilted their heads curiously at the stranger standing in front of them. “I’m… I’m one of Tateyama’s… neighbour…” As soon as the sentence exited the teen’s mouth, he internally cringed at what he said. _That’s the worst answer you could have come up with…_ He thought to himself. “He just… Umm… left a very important file with me that I was… uhh… supposed to hand to him…” He continued to lie before quickly asking, “Do you know where he is?” Shintaro still wasn’t good at social interactions with strangers.

“Oh… He just left. He said he felt ill, so he went home.” The male student responded.

“Ah… I see… Thank you!” Shintaro replied before quickly dashing out of the classroom. However, as soon as he left the classroom, he saw something from the window overseeing the sports facilities. A white lab coat wearing man was slowly approaching what appears to be a young teen… _Hibiya!_ The teen realised what he was witnessing and began sprinting down the stairs.

    As he exited the school building, he saw the small-statured teen going limp.

“Hibiya!” He yelled out, but it was too late.

The older man heard Shintaro and started dragging Hibiya away. “Shit…” Shintaro cursed as he gave chase to the lab coat wearing maniac. The man realised he was being chased, lifted the small teen up and started sprinting towards the entrance of the school. Parked by the school gate was a black coloured sedan with its back door open and its engine running. The exhaust pipes were coughing out grey smoke, and the lights within the car were on. Shintaro, realising that the black sedan was Tateyama’s escape vehicle, started to sprint faster. He stretched out his arm as far as possible. The tip of his middle finger brushing against the lab coat. The dark-eyed teen was so close to catching the culprit, he only needed to reach a little further. However, due to him extending his arm and thrusting himself forward, he threw his balance off-kilter. His legs slipped out from underneath him and sent the teen crashing to the hard soil. Pain shot through his entire body, but he chose to ignore it, he was not about to let the psychopath take another life. Shintaro, mustering his strength, climbed back up from the ground, and was ready to give chase, but it was too late. Just as the teen got back up from his feet, he saw the car in front of him driving away, leaving only a dirt trail and the shadow of the cloud above.

“No… Hibiya…” Shintaro called out in between his ragged breaths. Thoughts of what the maniac would do to Hibiya ran through Shintaro’s head. _Not again… No more…_ He told himself. Sweat dripped from his face, hitting the dirt underneath him, turning the soil red. As the cloud slowly revealed the sun, Shintaro wiped his forehead with his sleeve before setting his target on Tateyama’s house.

“You’re not getting away with this…” Shintaro declared before running towards the lab coat wearing teacher’s house.

    The base of the Mekakushi Dan was filled with absolute silence. On the couch in the living room sat Takane who stared at the wooden floor beneath. The door from Marry’s room clicked, and the teen with pink coloured eyes came out.

“How’s Marry doing?” The pigtailed girl asked.

“I don’t know… Her skin turned scaly afterwards… I don’t know if that’s a part of her power or not…” Haruka told the dark-eyed teen.

“I see…” Takane responded.

Her mind was blank. She couldn’t believe that another life was taken away by her former homeroom teacher. “Hey Haruka…” the pigtailed girl started.

“Yes?” The pink-eyed teen responded.

“What if… What if Tateyama is actively hunting us down?” She asked.

A look of confusion and worriedness appeared on the white-haired teen’s face. “What do you mean?” He replied.

“What if our teacher is trying to kill everyone in the Dan?” Takane clarified.

“I’m… I mean… Why would he do that?” the other teen asked.

“I don’t know… I… don’t know…” The pigtailed girl seemed hesitant in what she wanted to say, but Haruka didn’t pursuit.

“Takane… It will be okay… I promise.” The white-haired teen responded with a gentle smile on his face. It was that smile again, the same smile that made Takane happy countless times. This time, however, Takane didn’t feel anything. The amount of death that had happened in a day had taken a toll on the dark-haired teen.

“Thank you, Haruka,” was all she managed to say.

    The sun was shining brightly in the sky, but the curtains in Kano’s room prevented him from seeing the light radiated from the star in the sky. The teen was lying on his bed with visible tear stains on his pillow and bed sheet, and a picture laid next to him. The image depicted him, Seto, Kido and the Tateyama family all together in the backyard of their house during autumn. The beautiful bed of orange and red covered the floor in the background, while the foreground felt slightly strange. Ayano was standing in between Kano and the other two teens. The green haired girl looked unpleased in the photo with her hoodie slightly torn, while Seto looked worried and had a black eye. Kano remembered the day that this picture was taken. It was one of the worst fights that he and Kido had ever gotten into. Insults were thrown at each other along with punches over something that, thinking back on it now, was not worth the fight that they ended up getting into.

    “You broke it because you tried to punch me!” a young Kano yelled at Kido while pointing to a broken porcelain vase on the floor.

“Yeah, but it wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t act like an idiot!” the green haired girl yelled back.

“Guys… Shouldn’t we try to fix the-” Seto tried to speak up but was quickly drowned out by the yelling of the two other children.

“I was acting like an ‘idiot’ to try and cheer you up! You refused to talk to anyone this morning, so I thought I should help!” the blonde boy explained.

“I don’t need your help…” the other youngster responded coldly.

“God, can you not always act like you can handle everything on your own?” the boy commented.

“Guys… I think the flower is going to di-” The green hoodie-wearing teen tried to speak up, but his voice quickly died out from the shouting in the room. Instead of asking for help, he decided that maybe it would be for the best if he goes and finds a cup to put the flower in by himself. As Seto quietly exited the room, Kano took notice of this.

“Well look! We’ve driven Seto away because you had to start a fight! Can’t you just be a little more considerate?” He snapped at Kido.

“You’re the one who was inconsiderate in the first place, if you had just left me alone, we wouldn’t have fought in the first place.” The purple hoodie wearing girl retaliated.

“Jeez… Is this why you drove your Dad mad-” The blonde boy quickly stopped his reply and placed his hand on his mouth, covering it. He didn’t mean to bring up the past. “Kido… I’m sorry I didn’t mean it…” The black parka wearing boy tried to apologise. “It was the heat of the moment; I didn’t mean it…” He kept trying to express regret.

The green haired girl didn’t take too kindly to this statement. Her hands that were resting in the pocket of her hoodie rolled up into a fist. Her whole body began to shake with anger, and her eyes turned red.

“Hey, Kido? Kido?” Kano realised that the hoodie-wearing girl had accidentally triggered her power. “Please, I really didn’t mean it.” He yelled out.

However, in the peripherals of his eyes, he saw a fist thrown at him. The knuckles of Kido’s fist contacted the cheek of the parka-wearing teen, sending him crashing to the ground. Kido wasn’t done. She pinned the boy to the floor and pummeled him with her unrelenting punches. Kano grunted in pain and yelled for her to stop, but nothing came of it. At this moment, the door to their room clicked open, and a scared Seto walked in with a glass of water. As he noticed Kido beating down Kano, he quickly walked up to the pair to try and stop them.

“Kido… Please stop…” He weakly tried to convince the green haired girl before placing his hand on her shoulder.

Kido didn’t take this kindly as she shouted, “Let go of me!” before shoving the green hoodie-wearing teen. This caused Seto to fall backwards, dropping the cup of water onto the floor, shattering the glass cup.

Kano, noticing the pause in Kido’s pummeling, pushed the girl off him. To his dismay at the time, the green haired girl didn’t fall. “You didn’t have to drag Seto into this!” He yelled at her before throwing a punch of his own. Seeing the fist approached her, Kido moved out the way just in time. However, doing so, made her footing slip, causing her crashing to the floor. The punch that was avoided by Kido continued to carry its momentum and landed on the eye of Seto, who had just gotten up.

“Crap…” Kano, realising that he had hit Seto instead, quickly ran to his side and helped him up to his feet. “How are you doing? Does your face hurt a lot?” He asked the other youngster.

“I’m… fine…” Seto responded with tears in his eye.

“We need to go tell Mom about this and get you checked,” Kano suggested, as he grabbed onto the wrist of the green hoodie-wearing teen.

However, before the teen was able to drag his friend out of the room, the duo heard sniffling and sobbing coming from the teen wearing the purple hoodie who was laying on the floor with her arm on covering her eyes. The blonde-haired teen wanted to help, but he didn’t want to forgive the girl this quickly.

Seto, on the other hand, called out to the sobbing girl, “Kido? Are you okay?” He asked with concern in his voice.

No response came from the teen. This made the dark-haired teen worried. He started stepping forward towards Kido.

“Hey, Seto… What are you-” Kano tried to stop the green hoodie-wearing teen, but to no avail. As Seto approached Kido, he noticed shards of glass embedded themselves into her arms and hands.

“Does it hurt a lot?”  He asked gently. Kido nodded. Understanding that the green haired girl needed treatment for her wounds, he asked gently “Can you get up on your own?” The green haired girl responded by slowly sitting up, before using Seto’s shoulder as leverage and pulled herself up.

As the duo walked past Kano, the dark-haired teen he whispered to him, “It’s not your fault…” Before continuing with Kido and left the room.

    Memories flood Kano’s vision along with his tears. “How was it not my fault, Seto?” He asked out loud, expecting an answer that would never come.

    The bright sun shone onto the slender, red jersey wearing teen as he ran towards Tateyama’s house. He didn’t know how long he had been running, but one thing he was sure of, he needed to make sure that he gets to the sick maniac before he could do anything to Hibiya. As he continued heading in the direction of the psychopath’s house, he came across a metal bridge with a pedestrian walkway. As he steps onto the rusty bridge, his vision was flooded with a piece of memory he shared with Ayano.

Suddenly the world around him became pitch black. _The only thing that was still visible was the bridge he stood on._

“What the…” He commented.

_As he continued forward, he saw two people standing next to each other and facing the person standing opposite of them._

_“Is that…” Shintaro realised that the two figures in front of him were Ayano as well as himself. He recognised this setting; it was only a couple of days before Ayano had taken her own life. Regret and guilt crawled their way up Shintaro as he watched on._

_“Shintaro, what’s wrong?” Ayano asked gently while holding onto the other teen’s arm._

_“God, why do you have to be so annoying?” the other Shintaro responded while pulling his arm away._

_“I’m just concerned about you… You have been acting so distant lately…” The dark-haired girl stated._

_“Maybe it’s because you’re annoying? Have you thought about that?” The teen in the red jersey retorted._

_“I’m just trying to help!” Ayano yelled with pain in her voice._

_“Shut up… I don’t want your help, leave me alone.” Shintaro commanded before leaving._

_As the Shintaro of the past walked past the Shintaro of the present, the two exchanged a look with each other. Before the other teen could head off, Shintaro of the present grabbed onto the other’s arm. “You went too far…” He told himself._

_“I know…” The other responded._

_“Why? Why did you say what you said?” Shintaro asked._

_“We both know the answer to that very well.” The other responded coldly. The teen in the red jersey knew his reasoning for why he acted harshly to Ayano, but knowing what happened after, he wasn’t going to have it with this excuse. As if the other Shintaro could read his mind, he started, “That was our decision at the time, there’s no changing it now. It’s all in the past.” The other Shintaro told himself, before pulling his arm back and continued walking off the bridge._

_The present Shintaro saw Ayano in the distance, looking at him, or rather the other him walking away. Anger boiled inside the red jersey wearing teen, and he ran towards the dark-haired girl._

_“Ayano!” He yelled out._

_However, instead of acknowledging Shintaro, Ayano simply turned around and began walking away. The dark-haired teen continued to give chase to the other teen, but just as he was about to wrap his arm around the girl he very much cared about, she vanished._

The world around the teen reverted to normal, and he realised that he had crossed the bridge without realising.

“Ayano…” He whispered.

Instead of lingering on what he had just experienced, he shook his head and cleared his mind.

“I have to get to Hibiya…” He told himself and continued to Tateyama’s house.

    The sun slowly disappeared behind a layer of dark coloured cloud as Shintaro reached Tateyama’s house. He looked at the structure in front of him and gulped. There is a high possibility that once he confronts the maniac, he may never walk out of the house alive. A part of him felt fearful, and reasonably so. He didn’t know if he was going to be captured by the sadistic teacher or not. If he did, what would he do to him? Would he be killed instantly, or would he get tortured? However, despite the uncertain danger that was presented in front him, he began walking to the front porch of the Tateyama residence. Shintaro knew that this wasn’t the time to be selfish and thinking about himself. He needed to save another child; another youth whose life could be taken by the same sick psychopath that took away his sister’s. As he was approaching the wooden door, he saw the sedan that the psychopath escaped in. It didn’t look like there was any sign of struggle, which means that the vested teen must have still been passed out when he was brought here. This gave Shintaro a slight hope that the kidnapped teen is still alive. As he stood in front of the wooden door that was all too familiar to him, He began knocking on it.

Tateyama opened the door and greeted the teen standing in front of him, “Hello there, Kisaragi.”

Standing face to face with Ayano’s father, Shintaro suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of danger. The lab coat wearing man was giving off an aura that threatened the very existence of the dark-eyed teen. Shiver sent down his spine as he stared at the man right in his eyes. As he paid closer attention to the pupils of the older man, he noticed that they weren’t round and human-like, but rather shaped like slits, similar to one of a snake’s. Shintaro opened his mouth and was about to speak. “Uh…” was the only noise that escaped his vocal chords. His brain was going haywire, telling him to leave.

“Are you here for, perhaps, Amamiya?” The slit-eyed maniac asked, letting out a small chuckle as he finished the question.

“Y… Yes. Where is he? Have you done an anything to him.” Ignoring the warning signs that his brain was firing at him, Shintaro built up his courage and asked.

“Of course not. Don’t worry; he’s fine. Here I will take you to him if you want.” The sadistic murderer told the teen, his tone sarcastic.

“You know I’m smarter than falling for that.” The dark-eyed teen replied, still slightly resistant to his voice. It felt almost wrong to him to respond to a murderer in such a casual manner.

Tateyama chuckled slightly, “I certainly hoped so; otherwise this won’t be as fun.” The slit-eyed teacher commented sinisterly.

The response made Shintaro tense up. Questions rose into his mind as he prepared himself for an attack.

“Relax… I will make sure that you die faster your sister…” An unnaturally wide grin appeared on the face of the psychopath.

As the older man expected, this made the dark-eyed teen boil with anger. He could see his fists tighten and his teeth gritting.

“Well, come get me then… You want to avenge your sweet little sister, don’t you?” An audible frustrated grunt came from the teen in the red jersey. Tateyama stepped back from the door slightly, further provoking the teen to enter his own grave.

A cocktail of emotions bubbled and brewed inside of Shintaro. No longer was he afraid of the murderer standing in front of him. His mind screamed revenge. He took a step forward, stopping right before the older man. He knew that if Momo was still here, she would be telling him to stop, practically begging for him to leave this wretched house. Tears would flow from her big round eyes, as she held onto his sleeve, as she pleaded for her brother to preserve his life. However, Momo wasn’t here. She was never going to be with him again. He will never get to see her sweet and innocent smile, nor hear her weird and quirky remarks. She’s gone. She’s no longer apart of this world because of one person who happened to be standing right in front of the dark-eyed teen. He took a deep breath and raised his fist from his side and propelled it towards the man who took his sister’s life.

    Hibiya was sitting alone in a room that he had never seen before and had been sitting there for what he felt like was an eternity. He dreaded what his kidnapper was going to do to him. He didn’t even know why he was kidnapped in the first place. His family had no feuds with anyone, neither are they rich. To his knowledge, there shouldn’t be any reason that he would be kidnapped. Thoughts turmoiled through his brain, trying to figure out a valid reason why he was drugged and taken. Suddenly a revelation came to his mind, one that he wasn’t pleased by. _Unless… It’s the same person who…_ The brown-eyed teen realised who his kidnapper could be, and panic started setting in. _No, no, no… I don’t want to die… I’m still so young…_ As he sat in silence, he heard a set of footsteps in the distance. He began screaming, begging for his life. However, his cries turned into muffles as he was gagged with a wet, white towel. Every time the teen bites down on it after screaming, its contents would pour into his mouth. The liquid didn’t taste like plain tap water, in fact, it had hints of metal inside, more specifically iron. Hibiya quickly choked on the unknown liquid and began to cough. He sincerely hoped that the iron taste in the towel isn’t from the blood of the people who his kidnapper had murdered. Suddenly, he could hear knocking ringing throughout the house. _Someone’s here…_ The teen noted. He crossed his fingers and hoped that it would be someone from the Dan coming to his rescue. Before long, screaming and yelling could be heard echoing in the halls outside. Soon the shouting was mixed with noises of glasses shattering and items being tossed. Then followed silence. The silence felt uncomfortable. The lack of any conflict can only signify one thing. This made Hibiya more scared than the footsteps of his kidnapper. _Did… Did they…_ The teen didn’t know what possibly could have happened. He didn’t want to think of the prospect of another one of his friends dying, but the worst-case scenario plagued his mind. Horrid images of a broken member of the Dan lying on the cold hard floor with blood seeping from underneath them flooded the teen’s vision. He wanted to run outside and check on the fallen member, but he couldn’t. His hands were tied to the stile of the wooden chair, and his ankles were tied to the chair legs. He could feel a wave of warm liquid flooding the rim of his eyes. Just as he was about to break down, he heard loud thuds of doors being kicked open along with his name being yelled out. The despair and hopelessness were suddenly washed away as he recognised the voice.

“Shintaro!” He tried to yell, but only an unrecognisable cry could be heard. However, that was enough to get the attention of the teen wearing the red jersey. He opened the door with force and Hibiya was greeted by a worn out Shintaro.

“Finally found you…” The dark-eyed teen smiled gently. He walked towards the vest wearing teen, making sure to close the door behind him. He gently removed the gag that was prohibiting Hibiya from talking.

“Shintaro…” The brown-eyed teen whispered in both relief and joy. He was never gladder to see a member of the Mekakushi Dan.

“It’s okay, Hibiya, I’m going to get you out of here…” Shintaro promised weakly.

“I’m sorry…” Hibiya suddenly burst out.

“For what?” the teen in the red jersey asked, confused to why the other had just apologised, before remembering the events from earlier. “Ah… Right… It’s fine.” He replied, before stumbling to find a sharp object to cut the zip ties around the other’s wrists and ankles.

This display of fatigue concerned Hibiya; he didn’t know if the weakness was caused by exhaustion or if it was because the injuries other teen had suffered during the fight. Before long, Shintaro returned with a pair of scissors that he found in the desk drawer. As he began cutting the plastic restraints on Hibiya, he stumbled forward a little.

“Shintaro!” Hibiya yelled out.

“I’m fine… Don’t worry.” The other reassured him.

“You don’t look fine…” The vest wearing teen doubted.

“Just tired after the fight, don’t worry...” Shintaro insisted before cutting the final zip tie around Hibiya’s ankle.

“Okay, let’s get out of here.” The dark-eyed teen announced. However, while he was standing up, the vest wearing teen noticed him grunting and grabbing onto his side. Dots connected in Hibiya’s mind before grabbing his friend by the wrist and pulled off his jersey. As he suspected, there was a stain on the side of his black undershirt. What he didn’t expect were the bandages that were on both arms of the teen. Underneath the bandage on the left arm, he could see a pool of red liquid spreading and seeping through the white cloth.

“Shintaro?” Hibiya asked worryingly.

“It’s… It’s re-opened wounds… And a new cut…” Shintaro replied reluctantly.

The response made the vest wearing teen wide-eyed. “We need to get you treated.” He commanded before grabbing the other with his left hand and placing the right hand on the doorknob. However, just as he was going to open the door, his eyes went red. Suddenly his vision projected an image of the exterior of the house they are in before zooming into one of the windows on the second floor and showing an older man holding a knife on the other side of the door, waiting for them to exit.

“We can’t leave…” Hibiya whispered as his eyes returned to their regular colours.

“Huh?” Shintaro asked, confused by the other teen’s statement. “The teacher… He’s right outside the door…”

    The golden light emitted from the sunset crept into the base of the Mekakushi Dan. Takane and Haruka were resting on the couch next to each other. Neither of them had talked to each other much since the morning. When they did break the silence, the conversation never lasted long. Both were still in shock over the deaths of their friends. However, there was also something else on the mind of the pigtailed girl. Shintaro and Hibiya had been out for almost an entire day. She didn’t want to think much of it but couldn’t help but wonder about their safety. She couldn’t contact any of them either, with Shintaro’s phone lost somewhere in a laboratory in the basement of her old school and Hibiya not picking up his phone. She released a deep sigh and stated, “They are not back yet…”

The pink-eyed teen looked at her for a split second before returning his gaze to the floor beneath him. “Yeah…” He responded, this time with no reassurance. Even as optimistic as the white-haired teen is, he couldn’t help but think that the duo that went out in the morning had perished. Suddenly a buzz and vibration that was sent across the couch made both of them jump out of their seats. It was Takane’s phone.

“Who is it?” Haruka asked with slight caution in his voice. The tensed girl picked up her phone and looked at the lock screen. A wave of relief washed over her as the display read “Amamiya Hibiya”.

Despite the relief, the pigtailed girl picked up the phone and yelled, “Where the hell have you two been? You’ve been out all morning!”

“Sorry…” A familiar voice came from the other end of the phone, but not from whom Takane had expected, nor wanted to hear from.

    “What should we do?” Hibiya asked as he slowly released the grip he had on the doorknob.

“Uh… Well… We can’t jump out of the window…” Shintaro replied with a slight sense of humor to mask the pain from his wounds and the danger of the situation.

“Are you sure? I mean, maybe there’s something like a rope that’s long enough to lower us.” The vest wearing teen suggested.

“Don’t be stupid…” the jersey wearing teen sneered.

“Well, there’s no other way then.” Hibiya retaliated before adding, “Unless he decides to burst in first-” It was almost if Tateyama had heard him, the door was busted down by the possessed teacher. The force from the door swinging open pushed both teens onto the ground.

As the younger teen looked up, he could see glass shards sticking from the side of the older man’s face. “You know, Shintaro, pushing people’s face through a glass frame is very dangerous…” Tateyama remarked sadistically, before noticing the freed Hibiya. “Oh look… You got free. I should have just killed you in the car.”

As the psychopath finished his sentence, he picked up the brown-eyed teen by his collar and shoved him to a nearby wall. As Hibiya winced at the pain from his head and back bouncing off the white coloured surface, he saw a knife thrust towards his throat, stopping just as the tip of the sharp weapon poked uncomfortably at his neck.

“Not so fast…” the man told the boy in front of him.

The brown-eyed teen could feel more and more force exerting onto his neck as the knife dug deeper and deeper. He watched in fear as a grin appeared on the face of the older man. The sickening grin drained all hope that was left in the young boy. He knew, as he stared in terror at the man in front of him, that he was going to die. Tears flooded his eyes, as the realization sank in.

“Please…” Hibiya begged, “I don’t want to die…”

Upon hearing those words, the ugly, wide-mouthed grin turned into an uncontrollable laughter. The entity that was possessing the teacher was enjoying this moment, it wanted to savour it. _Keep begging_ , it pleaded in its mind. The sound of desperation within the teen sounded like a beautiful symphony. Just as the snake was enjoying torturing the boy, a large shadow loomed over it. As Tateyama turned around to examine what caused this shadow, he saw a teen in a red jersey hoisting a wooden chair above his head. A realization dawned upon the sadistic being as the chair swung down right on the top of his head. As the lab coat wearing man collapse from the force, the teen in the red jersey saw a still Hibiya shaking in fear.

“Run!” Shintaro commanded at a frozen teen.

The word entered through his ears, and vibrated his eardrums, sending a signal from his ear to his brain before registering the order that was given to him, snapping him out of his trance. The vest wearing teen nodded before starting to run to the door.

    As Hibiya reached the door, he looked back, waiting for his friend to escape. However, to his horror, he watched as a smile of accomplishment on Shintaro’s face morph into one of shock and pain as the murderous teacher grabbed him by his neck and thrust the sharp blade into his back. As the teen started to go limp, the sadistic being pulled the knife out from his victim’s back, before turning him around and jabbing the knife into his abdomen. Blood seeped from Shintaro’s mouth and dripped onto the lab white lab coat of the possessed Tateyama. Seeing life draining out of the teen in front of him wasn’t enough to satisfy the being controlling the helpless teacher. He began twisting the blade in the stab wound. The dark-eyed teen wanted to scream from the excruciating pain, but he couldn’t. His body was in shock and all his muscles were tensed. As the knife continued to twist back and forth inside of his abdomen, he could feel the sharp edge of the weapon tear through his muscles and blood vessels. Shintaro felt his consciousness drift away as he grew colder. When the knife was finally taken out of his body, he couldn’t do anything but fall helplessly onto the wooden floor. He tried to move his body, but it wouldn’t listen. His vision was a blur of colours, but he could make out a small figure, standing by the door frame. He knew who the figure is and tried to cry out for him to leave, but once again his voice was trapped.

Shintaro could feel his body turning colder and colder by the second _. Is this what it feels like to die…_ He asked himself. The question repeated over and over in the mind of the teen. No matter how much the idea went through his head, he couldn’t believe it. _No… I can’t die… Not yet…_ He told himself. Shintaro knew there was no use for denial, but a part of his brain kept bargaining. Soon enough, regrets washed over the dying teen. _I haven’t avenged for Momo yet… I can’t die…_ He kept trying to convince himself. _I can’t let Mom lose all her family members…_ Reasons after reasons, he tried to tell his body to stay alive. Darkness started to shroud Shintaro’s consciousness. _Please… I need to do so much still… I have to apologize to Kano… Say a proper goodbye to my friends… I’m not ready yet…_ Bit by bit, what was left of his mind slowly drifted away. _I’m sorry Momo…_ He apologized. With that one final apology, his last breath of life was consumed by eternal darkness.

    Hibiya watched Shintaro’s body stop moving. He wanted to go and rescue his friend from his certain doom, but his instinct had told him to run away. So, he did. He ran down the stairs as fast as he can. The desperation to escape made him trip over a step, sending him crashing onto the floor. However, he ignored the pain and kept running. Hibiya knew that in the process of him falling, he had dropped something, but he didn’t care what, he just wanted to get away. Tears flowed freely down his face as he exited the Tateyama residence. The vested teen didn’t know where he was running to, but neither did he want to stop. His legs were moving as if they were on autopilot. He continued to run until he was out of breath. However, instead of slowing down, he kept going. Through his blurred vision, he thought that he had seen a red light from across the street. He didn’t know what the light was at the beginning, but a loud honk provided him with a clue on what it could have been. As he slowed down, he looked to the direction of the sound. As he wiped his tear away, he saw the front of a truck heading full speed towards his direction. “Ah…” He said before watching the vehicle crashing into his small body.

    The autumn wind blew; carrying with it the crimson leaves that had been ripped from their homes. In the back of the garden, a sea of orange and red lit under the golden glow of sunset flooded the lawn. The only things that were still visible from the ocean of leaves were the white fences, clotheslines, as well as three wooden crosses that protruded out from the soil. Three crosses for the three who had passed away. Three crosses for the three that he had taken away from the world. Three crosses for the wish of one sadistic being. In the secluded Tateyama mansion, the culprit behind the demises of Momo, Seto, and Shintaro watched on from inside of his house. He could feel the snake wanting to retake control. However, at this point, he didn’t know why he was still fighting against the wishes of the entity. He’s powerless against it. He could feel his arm moving on its own, grabbing the phone of the vest wearing teen from his pocket before placing it in front of his eyes. His other hand began dialling a number that he was too familiar with. His cheeks forced a smile, and he dialled the number.

“Sorry…” Takane heard on the other end of the phone. Her heart rate slowly climbed as she waited for what she feared the most. “Sorry… But I’ve made sure that your master is never going to come back to you…” A trail of laughter followed at the message before the call hanging up.

    Sunlight shone through the curtains in Kano’s room, providing it with a dim lighting. The blonde teen was lying in his bed, still holding onto the photo with his family and friends. He didn’t know how long he had stayed in his room. Every now and then he would fall asleep, only to wake up screaming from his nightmares about losing more of his friends. Nightmares about losing Kido. However, despite the horrific dreams, the liar refused to get out of his bed because despite of how the dream ends, he gets to hang out with everyone who had already passed away, everyone who he dearly missed. As his eyes started to droop, preparing for his mind to drift away, his phone that was placed beside his pillow vibrated. After a few moments, it vibrated again. _What could be so important?_ Kano asked himself before reluctantly pulling himself away from the dream world. He removed one hand that was placed on the picture frame and reached out to his phone. As he read the notifications that was displayed on the little electronic device, a wave of shock consumed the despair-ridden teen. The sender of the messages was from someone he didn’t want to see again. The liar grunted as he read the name of the sender, “Dad…” Despite the contact information on his phone being written as “Dad”, he knew that the person who had adopted him, Seto, and Kido had been long gone ever since the death of the man’s wife. Kano’s heart started pounding faster as he placed his thumb on the phone’s lock screen. He didn’t want to see what the snake had sent to him, but what if the messages were ransoms? What if the messages contained information on how to save his friends? With a hard gulp of his saliva, the blonde teen slid his thumb from one end of the screen to the other, unlocking the device. As soon as the screen of his phone turned from his lock screen saver to the message app, Kano was stunned by the image that was presented in front of him. The picture depicted the backyard of his old house, the Tateyama residence, with three white crosses protruding from the soil. Frustration and anger coursed through the teen as he reminded himself of the two lives that the sadistic snake had already taken, as well as a third. The third cross was what made Kano’s heart jump. _Who’s the third?_ He asked, despite not wanting to know to answer. _Maybe it’s a fluke…_ He told himself, even though he knew both Shintaro and Hibiya had been out since the morning. He didn’t want to believe that another life was taken. As he scrolled past the image reluctantly, he saw the message, “3 down, 6 to go.” The blonde teen knew that the ominous text wasn’t just a warning, but rather a promise, a checklist. _I need to tell everyone about the snakes…_ He decided. However, as he told himself that, he felt his gut wrench. Kano was scared. He was scared about telling the Dan about the secret that he had been keeping for two years. He was scared that everyone will blame him for the death of their friends _. I… I have to tell them… Otherwise this will keep happen until everyone-…_ He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist in frustration _. You can do it, Kano…_ The liar continued to encourage himself. He slowly sat up from the bed, stilling hold the family picture in his hand, before gently placing it back onto the bedside table. He took one last glance at the photo before slowly placing his feet down onto the cold wooden floor and lifting himself from the bed. Kano took a deep breath as he placed his hand onto the doorknob and twisted it. _You can do this…_ He thought before leaving his room.

    Takane slowly lowered her phone onto her lap, her expression void of any emotion. “He’s dead…” She whispered, barely moving her lips.

“Takane?” Haruka asked, reaching out his hand and placing it on the pigtailed girl’s shoulder.

“Shintaro… He’s…” She began before turning to the pink-eyed teen. “He’s dead.” She announced as a stream of tears flowed from her eyes down her cheeks.

Haruka didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t believe another life was taken by his old homeroom supervisor. He remembers that Shintaro was one of his best friends in high school before he lost his memories. He remembers the time that he and Shintaro teamed up and defeated Takane and Ayano in an arcade tournament. All these memories were there in Haruka’s mind, but they lacked any emotion around them. To him, despite all the memories, Shintaro was merely another friend that he had met a few months back. A friend who for the most of five months hated him. He felt regretful that he didn’t get to know the boy more before he died. Seeing the girl in front of him crying over someone who was a major part of their lives saddened Haruka even more. He wished that these memories that he regained of Shintaro could make him feel worse, but they couldn’t.

He pulled Takane into his arms tightly before running his hand up and down her back. “I’m sorry…” He told her.

Suddenly Haruka heard a door click. He instinctively looked up and looked towards the direction the sound came from. “Kano… You came out…” He blankly stated as he saw the nervous boy exit his room.

Kano had heard the crying the moment he had opened his door. He knew that Takane and Haruka must also have the messages sent to them. The crying from the pigtailed girl made the liar question if this is the right time for him to tell the Dan, at least what’s left of it, about the snake.

“Oh, hey Kokonose… You guys also heard I’m guessing…” He asked the pink-eyed teen.

“Yeah…” the other replied.

“I see… Where’s Marry? There’s something I need to talk to you guys about.” The liar questioned, noticing the absence of the white-haired medusa.

“Marry… She’s in her room… I don’t think she had woken up after collapsing in the morning…” Haruka responded.

The response surprised the blonde teen. “What… What happened to her?” He pursued.

“After you left for your room, Marry picked up the pictures that Shintaro had dropped, to try and clean up. Well… She saw… The contents of the pictures and collapsed.” The white-haired boy explained, however, purposely leaving out his observations of the scales that she grew.

Inside Kano’s mind, he began questioning his idea more and more. He saw the pain and death that he had caused everyone by not telling them about his secret sooner. If he was to tell them now, he couldn’t imagine how much the rest of the Dan would hate him. Maybe they would even kick him out. _Perhaps… Perhaps some other time…_ He backed out before stating, “I see… Well… it’s fine… I will talk about it some other time… I’m going to go to the hospital to visit Kido…” He announced before walking up to Takane, who was still sobbing into Haruka’s chest. “Hey, Takane… everything will get better… I swear…” The liar promised.

Amongst her sniffling and sobbing, the dark-haired girl was able to say, “How? Every…one’s dead… Momo… Seto… and now… Shintaro…”

 _Ah… So, it was him…_ Kano noted. “I know… But I promise I would try and keep everyone safe. You know that I know something that most others don’t.” He tried to reassure the pigtailed teen.

“How would that help?” the teen asked.

“Well… I know how to prevent more death from happening.” He lied before standing upright and patting the girl on her back before stating, “I promise.”

As he finished his sentence, Kano began leaving the house. Before he exited their room in the apartment, Haruka called out, “Kano!”

The liar turned around and hummed to indicate a “Yes?”

“Please… Stay safe…” He told the blonde teen.

“I will… Thanks.” He said before leaving the base.

    As Kano was walking down the corridor of the apartment building, thoughts were running wild in his head. _Idiot… You still didn’t tell them… Why are you so selfish, Kano? You know you’re just sending all of them to their death by hiding the truth._ He blamed himself. _How could I though? With Takane breaking down and Marry collapsing… I can’t possibly just tell them that I knew this whole time and could’ve avoided everyone from dying._ He made an excuse. _Still… Can’t believe Shintaro was the one that the snake got. I never even got to apologize to him for yelling at him while being sis…_ The liar rummaged his hands through his hair. _God… I wish you are here to talk me through this whole situation, Kido…_ He hoped before heading to the hospital.


End file.
